


I Only Want The Truth

by mothdads



Series: Lift me out of this Small Town, Old Soldier. [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: (thats the music I wrote this to anyway), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And literally any song by Foster The People, Angst, Blind Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Flamingo by Brandon Flowers, Fluff, Gabe is tired of this shit, I highly recommend listening to Day & Age by The Killers, M/M, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Who knows what's going on? Not me, and a bit of, gabe is an ex-soldier, i don't have the security clearance to tell you what jack does for a living, paranormal occurences, up in this bithc, we're probably gonna have some, while reading this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-22 16:23:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 75,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10700691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothdads/pseuds/mothdads
Summary: In a dingy apartment 300 miles from civilization that could only really be described as Gabriel Reyes' last chance at life, he discovers two things. One is a disconcerting number of insects in his shower, and the other is a revelation which threatens to change everything he knows about the world.AU where Gabriel finds himself in a strange desert town that nobody in their right minds would visit willingly, and Jack Morrison is the strange and cryptic man who lives next-door.





	1. A New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Starting out on a new fic! My first Overwatch one as well, I hope you enjoy!!

Gabriel Reyes had never meant to come here, not really, but to be honest this didn't seem like the kind of place that anyone would want to find themselves in.

 

It was one of those places which just happened to feel like it didn't exist- or you didn't. Or both. To be honest, he had just been swept up in the moment and, too tired to resist, had let his body be carried away as the rest of him had gazed idly into the horizon. He watched the bus that had carried him here disappear over the horizon, sailing out over the shimmering tarmac to worlds unknown. A few brittle clouds hung from the sky. All around him lay a horizon that seemed to carry on forever, an ocean of temperamental sand that lay ready for a gust of wind to carry it into the face of somebody unsuspecting. To look out upon it, one could easily forget that there was anything beyond it. Your past, treasured childhood and troubled later years could have been part of a dream, and to Gabriel it felt like he was looking out on an alien landscape, some kind of trans-dimensional hell. And Willsdale, Bare Feet was the seventh circle, the Dante’s Inferno, the sleepy Elysian Fields that was mankind’s last frontier against the fear of their own transience.

But he was being dramatic, he always was. Surely, upon further investigation, if he could just bring himself to look at the town, to turn back around he was sure he would see something of merit, something more than this barren, godless wasteland that seemed so overpowering. And as such, Gabriel turned back around. What he saw was not, admittedly so terrible as he had first imagined. It was a town; it could certainly be called that at least. It was not, per se, pretty, but that was not the primary requirement of a town, not even if it were one for rich people who in Gabriel's experience often happened to have dreadful taste despite the fact that they could afford better. The town had, if he were to describe it to the best of his meagre ability, a general rust colouration. This town was the type that you might see in a polaroid taken by someone who doesn't have to live there and displayed in a fancy art gallery or exhibit somewhere in Europe. You know the kind of place.

Gabe just knew he had made a very, very, incredibly poor decision in coming here. It was one thing to dream of just picking yourself up one day, taking what possessions you can’t live without and finding whichever bus will take you as far from civilisation as is physically possible without diving into the sea. It was another thing entirely to actually do it, which Gabe was finding out right now as he tried desperately to stave off the onset of panic. After all, wasn't this what he'd wanted? What the doctor ordered, more or less? For years now, he had known in his heart that he had to leave. No desk job could ever completely remove the twitches from his legs, the instinct to flee or fight, and no amount of therapy could chase away the ghosts completely. Perhaps in a way this had been a good idea, because now at least he had no choice in the matter. He had to start afresh.

 

It was hard to tell from the looks of it, but the green bench upon which he sat had proven itself to be a bus stop, improbably or not, which posed his next question. Did he catch another bus, or was this the place that would be his new home? Gabe considered his options. He could wait for another bus- given that he had no way of telling when the next one would arrive he would most probably acquire heatstroke before that happened. Or, he could give this place a try, beat up and dodgy as it looked. Perhaps he might discover that all the residents had hearts of gold, and would accept him as part of their strange extended family, or something ridiculous like that. So, taking a few tentative steps, suitcase rattling along behind him, Gabriel Reyes made his first entry into the town. 

The first building he passed was a gas station and car wash. It did not stand out against the environment whatsoever, blending into the backdrop with the ease of some ancient monument that has been part of the scenery for so long that it is no longer considered an obstruction to, but part of that scenery. As he neared the entrance, Gabriel was found himself feeling rather thirsty. He reached into his backpack, trying to feel for it- no, that wasn't it- no, that definitely wasn't it. What even was that? He grabbed the offending object, feeling it wriggle and writhe within his grasp, and pulled it out to reveal- a lizard? It decided to take that moment to try to bite a chunk out of his hand. Yelping, he let the lizard fall to the ground, and watched it scamper away with a sinking feeling. He had left his water bottle on the bus. Damn it. Or had he- no, it definitely, definitely wasn't in his rucksack. Mustering himself, he made the difficult decision not to start rooting around in his suitcase, because he just knew that he'd be there all day, and would get all his clothes dirty too. It was a pity, he had liked that water bottle, with its deathly black and white owl insignia. It had looked cool.

Still, he could dwell on that later, it wasn't like he would exactly be able to get it back. That ship- or bus- had definitely sailed by now, and he would most likely never lay eyes on it again. So he supposed he would just have to buy a new one. 

 

Head down, keeping as low a profile as was possible, Gabe entered the tiny little shop attached to the gas station. The place seemed to sell the bare minimum, and he didn't really blame the proprietor, keeping a shop stocked must be a nightmare all the way out here. He browsed for half a minute, picking out a nondescript looking bottle of water as well as a packet of chocolate biscuits for he was not without his vices, and the strange little mascot on the packaging- whatever it actually was, was very cute. The branding read Pachimaru. Was it half radish, half octopus, maybe? Gabriel really hoped that that wasn't the flavour. 

"G'day, mate!" The man behind the counter said in what was definitely an Australian accent as Gabe approached him, his voice annoyingly cheerful to the point that it was almost ridiculous. Whoever this skinny, tall man was behind the counter, he was working what must be an incredibly boring, uneventful and badly paying job, and on a blisteringly hot day no less. Gabe could respect anyone for that, though it did seem to lead him to the conclusion that the man had to be incredibly diligent, or just crazy. Judging by his messy, slightly manic appearance, like a youthful mad scientist who was yet to singe his eyebrows off, Gabe would have to lean towards the latter.

"So, you're new in these parts, eh mate?" The man behind the counter treated him to an especially manic grin. "S'not often we have new people in these parts. Last newcomer here was me, as I understand it. You here to stay or just passing through?"

Gabe moved to answer him, and found he didn't quite know himself. So he merely shrugged.

"Dunno yet then? I guess it's the best way to be 'n all, not tied down to anything. Reminds me of my youth." 

Gabe had to keep himself from snorting at that. His youth? The man could only be mid-twenties at most, certainly not old enough to be talking about his youth in such distant terms. If he found that hard he should try being forty-three.

"Does it now? He asked, trying to keep the skepticism in his voice veiled at least a little.

"So ya do talk! Fantastic!" The man grinned at him, and looking his expression Gabe was not at all sure whether or not he intended to seem friendly or menacing. "Was beginning to think you might complete our little collection."

 

Collection?

Maybe he was just paranoid but Gabe was getting serious Bates Motel vibes from this guy. What the hell did he mean by collection? What kind of collection could even involve people? Did he stuff them? Or just chain them up around the back of the gas station all while grinning as luridly as he was now?

"What do you mean by... collection?" He asked, wondering how easy it would be to run from this guy. Gabe was in good shape, sure, but he wasn't about to underestimate a guy who was easily 6'5 and who must have known the area far better than he did. 

"Well, the Willsdale collection of oddities and weirdos of course!" The man laughed as if he had said something insanely funny. "Everyone here's a little odd some way or another. Think it's what makes the place so special." 

Before the man could expand on his statement, they were interrupted as the bell on the glass doors rang, and the proprietor's attention turned to their other customer. 

"Oi, Mako! Look, we've got a new customer!" The man waved over. Gabe followed his gaze, looking over his shoulder to see possibly the most colossal specimen of probable human origin that he had ever seen. The shop had high ceilings, but obviously not high enough for this particular man, as he was stooped over to the point where he looked very uncomfortably positioned indeed. It was a surprise to Gabe that he even managed to fit into the shop as he was quite considerably wide as well as tall, and the little store hadn't seemed that big to begin with. Gabriel was not by any means a short man, but between these two giants of varying sizes, 6'1 did not feel like much at all and he was seized by an entirely unwelcome feeling of powerlessness. 

The man himself, Mako as the other man had called him looked down at Gabe. Gabe looked back at him. The atmosphere was very, very uncomfortable indeed. Then, the man (or possible mythological entity) reached out a hand. 

Was he meant to shake it? Was he? Augh, hell to it, Gabriel reached out his hand to grasp the man's gargantuan one, and shared with him a handshake that was very powerful indeed. Hoo boy, that would sure be an auspicious way to break a finger. It would be very incongruous indeed compared to the rest of his medical record. People would think he was losing his touch. 

"Gabriel Reyes." He said loudly. He figured he'd have to introduce himself sometime or another, and if he was going to end up in the tall man's freaky human collection he may as well do it now. 

"Who?" The man behind the counter asked obliviously. 

"That's his name, idiot." Mako answered without looking up. His voice was as every bit as deep and rasping as you would assume from the look of him. 

"Oh, oh right." 

Mako just rolled his eyes.

"So, d'ya just come in here to mock me or ya gonna buy something?" The skinny man leaned over the counter, giving Mako a warning glare. 

Mako shrugged in response, much to the annoyance of the other man. Then he wandered off down one of the aisles, humming a cheerful little tune to himself. 

"Fucker." The proprietor whispered to himself. Then he turned his attention absently back to Gabriel. 

"So, you gonna pay for that or what?" 

"Oh, right." Gabe nodded, feeling just a little embarrassed. 

The man behind the counter looked down at the two items in his hand. "That'll be three dollars please, mate."

"But you didn't even look at the-"

"Don't need to. Three. Dollars. Please." The man looked at him expectantly.

"Okay..." Gabe fished a great deal of change out of his pocket, that may have been around the range of three dollars, and held them out to the man behind the counter, who grabbed it as if it might disappear into thin air from atop Gabe's unpleasantly sweaty hand (he wasn't sure if that were to do with his erstwhile handshake or just the temperature in the shop). Gabriel's eyes were drawn to the man's hand, unexpectedly cold against his own, and realised with a jolt that it was made of metal, painted orange with a messy coat of slightly chipped emulsion for which prosthetic hands was probably not the intended use. If the man noticed Gabriel staring he gave no sign of it, and Gabriel decided that it was probably high time for him to make an exit. 

\-- - --

Gabriel stood outside the convenience store, blinking as his eyes acclimatised to the different level of light. What time was it? Evening? It certainly looked so, though it certainly didn't feel like it. He pulled his dented little motorola flip-phone out of his pocket and gazed at it with distain. 19:48 already? Really?   
The phone could be wrong he supposed, it was old enough, but it was a phone of very few functions and should by all rights fulfil those it was built for correctly, and in Gabe's experience it did exactly that. It could also send texts, make calls and play snake, and honestly what more could he want from a phone? He wasn't one of those people who couldn't live without the very newest smartphone, not at all. He'd much rather have something that A. didn't need to be replaced every other year and B. didn't enable dubious organisations (government or otherwise) to intrude on his personal life. 

So, he would just have to conclude that it was in fact ten to eight, and that he should probably find somewhere to stay the night, which would inevitably mean going further into town, as he wasn't too keen on the idea of returning to the gas station to ask about the possibility of a local hotel. So, ignoring the slight but very profound feeling of foreboding that had wound itself round his chest, he headed off down the road, into the town. Willsdale lay before him, perfectly calm, quiet, almost serene, but in a way that felt far too desolate for his dyed-in-the-wool city sensibilities. 

When he got into it properly though, the town didn't seem quite as horrifically empty as it had looked from outside, and he was passed by a pickup truck that for the fleeting moment it was in his sights looked to belong to Mako from the gas station. There were few people around but that still meant a few people. None of them seemed concerned at all by his presence, which he secretly felt rather relieving- for they were not staring at him like something out of 'Day of the Triffids'. Oh, he spoke too soon, oh fucking shit. Far off in the distance, getting steadily closer, a very distinctive figure, a man with greying hair and a rather intense glower was bearing down on him, staring right at him in a way that was very difficult to ignore. Awkwardly, hoping that this man's problem was merely resting bitch face and not a murderous intent, Gabriel waved to him in what he hoped looked like a friendly manner, for he would be first to admit that he didn't look approachable or friendly either, with his heavy brows and well-worn Pantera hoodie. 

Gaze unmoving, the man ignored his attempt to look friendly entirely, and continued on his collision course, brushing past his shoulder with not so much as a 'hello' or 'sorry' or even an 'excuse me please I have an urgent appointment to go stare at some things'. How fucking rude. 

Were all the residents of Willsdale like this? Who knew, maybe he was just incredibly unlucky. Or, maybe he actually had wandered into a town full of raving serial killers and had made the mistake of acting like the gormless idiot who inevitably dies first in a cheap horror flick. It had been a bad decision to come here, oh man, it really had. Here he was, alone, practically stranded, in some godforsaken town 300 miles from anywhere important, and to cap it all off nobody knew where he was. Not even he knew, not really. This was no Disneyland, that was for sure. But, on the plus side, he was almost positive that the hazy red building on the horizon was a motel.

Who knows? Maybe if he was really lucky he might even wake up tomorrow and find himself alive. At least, that was the dream. Though really, he shouldn't get his hopes up. Either way, he'd know soon enough.


	2. The Diner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel does a bit of exploring the town, and we meet some more of the locals.

Gabriel Reyes woke up at exactly 7:45 on a Tuesday morning to the astonishing revelation that he wasn't dead. He wasn't in pain, other than a twinge in his back from sleeping on his side, and that was completely normal. He wasn't in some crazy torture dungeon and above all, nobody was wearing his skin as a suit. 

Groggy but otherwise pretty okay, he managed to pull himself out of bed, something made a lot easier by the consistency of the mattress, which had obviously been designed to give the user the most discomfort possible. But the room had been cheap so he couldn't really complain. He walked over to the window, opening the curtains for the already potent sunlight to saturate the room, squinting awkwardly at it and silently berating himself for not having the common sense to wear sunglasses to bed. 

Wait... No, that was a stupid idea. What he really needed was darkened contact lenses. 

Gabriel wasn't really awake just yet. But, perhaps he could be, with the addition of a large quantity of cold water blasting over his body. He walked into the bathroom. He then proceeded to walk right out of the bathroom again. Wh- 

How-

Oh it was way too early in the morning to be dealing with this shit. Gabriel peeked back into the bathroom just to make sure that he hadn't hallucinated anything. 

Nope. It was still very much there. 

Most of the bathtub, nay the entire thing was filled with spiderwebs. And spiders. A whole lot of spiders. It wasn't like Gabe had anything against spiders, much to the contrary, but there... there were just so many of them! He stood unsteadily outside the bathroom door, mind reeling from the discovery. He hadn't seen them last night. How could he not have noticed? His toothbrush was in there for God's sake! 

Well, there was only one thing he could do. Two things if he included the option of actually de-bugging the bathroom, but given that nothing in the world could move him to take that action, much less at 8 am on a Tuesday, there was certainly only one viable option. He would just have to tell the owner of the motel... Pam, was it? Wasn't it? Maybe he just shouldn't refer to her by name at all, that seemed like the easiest route. Sighing, Gabe rooted around in his suitcase for new clothes that would be even vaguely suited to the harsh warmth that lay outside his front door. 

Pulling on a tee shirt and jeans he made his way over to the reception-thing, which was definitely, conspicuously empty. 

Well, that wasn't the end of the world he supposed. Heck, while he was out here he might as well go and find something to eat. There had to be a cafe around here somewhere, or at least a store that sold a half decent range of tooth-rottingly sugary cereals.

The town looked better with the benefit of a good night's sleep behind him at least. In the morning sun it looked almost hopeful, or certainly less desolate than it had seemed at first. Wandering along the meandering, dusty streets, Gabe happened upon a diner. 'The R&R Diner', a sign above it read in faded but cheerful red lettering. It looked old, but an original, not part of some big chain, which was refreshing. 

Well, since he was here, he might as well treat himself. After all, this was like a weird holiday of sorts. There was nothing stopping him from enjoying it, after all. 

\-- - --

The R&R Diner looked like a monument to the fifties on the inside. Red leather seats, those tall twisty stools and neon lights, the whole shebang. And, business was decent, he noted. From the looks of it a good percentage of the whole population had to be in here. A woman with short brown hair and a clear aura of lesbian beamed at him from over a counter. "Hey there!" She waved excitedly. "New guy! Nice to see you!" 

Gabe strolled up and sat himself at one of the red leather twisty-stool-things. 

"I see news here travels fast." He smirked. 

"Oh absolutely, luv! Not much happens round here at all, so having a new face about town is ever so exciting!" 

"Well, I certainly feel my presence being appreciated." He smiled back, trying to return some of the warmth that the lady was practically radiating. She was dressed far too casually to be working at a diner as classically styled as this, wearing skinny jeans and a short-sleeved blue shirt, the only thing that would indicate that she worked at the diner (other than her sunny disposition that was) would be her name tag, which read 'Lena' in an almost illegible scrawl of handwriting.

The other waitress, who was dressed in a marginally more recognisable outfit (she at least was wearing an apron) hurried past him with someone else's food, looking somewhat frazzled.

"Lena, honey, table 15 needs their order taken." She gave the first waitress a pointed look, as she hurried off back into the kitchen. 

Gabe turned to look at the table in question, only to be greeted with a friendly wave from the man from the convenience store. 

"I don't know why we bother, since he always orders the same thing." Lena muttered to nobody in particular. She handed Gabe a menu, before disappearing off to table 15 at a deceptively fast pace.

Gabe looked down at the menu in his hands. There was a lot to take in, more than he had expected quite honestly. There was a section for different types of pancakes. Blueberry pancakes, chocolate pancakes, red velvet pancakes, and about ten others besides. It was more pancake than he thought he could ever choose from. 

"Ah would recommend the forest-fruits pancakes if you're having a hard time deciding." Came a southern drawl from off to his left, the first accent he’d heard that actually sounded like it belonged in a small desert town such as this. 

Gabe looked over to see a man, who was very literally dressed as a cowboy. A cowboy. A grown ass man, dressed in 100% cowboy gear. Was this normal? Sure, it wouldn't be in the city, but out here? It was hard to know. 

"Thanks." Gabe replied, not wanting to make the situation awkward by ignoring the guy, as he did look quite powerfully built, even if he was dressed like Gabe's halloween costume from three years back. 

"Y'know, every time I come here I spend ages looking at the menu, but I always end up orderin' the same thing. Wonder what that says about me as a person."

"You tell me." 

The man smirked. "Maybe it says that I just really like fruit pancakes." 

"And maybe it says you're too damn predictable, Jesse." A man sat himself down at the seat one over from the cowboy. He bore a striking resemblance to the cowboy, though was dressed far less loudly, in a blue tee-shirt and shorts. He could barely be more than a teenager. 

"Hello to you too, Reuben. See you ain't learnt manners since I saw you last."

"What, d'you expect me to change overnight? I was round yours on Monday, Jess. Don't tell me you're getting senile." 

"Senile? I'm twenty-seven, ya little shit!"

The cowboy gave the younger man a playful shove, grinning as the non-cowboy responded in kind, making a heartfelt attempt to shove Jesse out of his seat, which was entirely unsuccessful. 

"Hey now, you're goin' to embarrass me in front of Mr Reyes an all!" Jesse protested as an all-out shove-match threatened to erupt between the two. 

Gabe frowned. "You know my name?" 

"Ah, pardon me sir, but Jamison- from the convenience store that is- was yammerin about you bein here to miss Oxton last night, and he ain't got much of an indoor voice so I think quite a few of us might’a overheard." He frowned, seeming unsatisfied with his own answer. "Well, I never meant to be nosy so I hope you'll pardon my rudeness and all." 

"No worries." Gabe smiled back. "So long as you don't call me Mr Reyes. Makes me sound old."

"Whadda we call ya then, Reyes?" The younger one, Reuben, squinted over at him. 

"I guess Reyes is fine. Or Gabriel. Hell, call me what you want." 

The two of them nodded in unison. 

"So, Gabriel, whatcha in town for?" Asked Reuben. "Business or pleasure?" 

"Cuz you won't find much of either out here, I warn ya." Added Jesse. 

Gabe shrugged. "I guess i'm here for whatever there really is out here."

"You're gonna be disappointed then." Reuben admitted with a sigh. "Only local landmarks round here are the old military base and the Elvis rock." 

"Elvis rock?" 

"It's a big rock with Elvis written on it." Reuben said, looking down at his watch, an ugly plastic digital thing that could probably survive a nuclear winter. "Aaaand, I gotta go. Enjoy your pancakes, cousin." With that he hopped down from his stool, and hurried out of the diner. 

"Where's he going? Gabriel watched him go with interest. "Didn't he just come in here for breakfast?"

"He'll be back." Jesse waved a hand nonchalantly. "This is just part of his daily routine." 

"Dare I ask why?" 

Jesse sighed. "It's on Morrison's route. He walks the same way, at the same time every day. Weekends, holidays, Christmas, don't matter when- he's off on his walk. If you're planning on staying here more than a couple days, I'm sure you'll see him. Grey hair, frown, usually has these red sunglasses on him, but he forgets to put them on most o' the time." 

Gabe remembered. Could that be... the guy from last night? 

"I think I saw him last night?" Gabe asked hesitantly. "Looks like he was dressed by someone blind?"

"Well, you'll have to excuse him for that, since he is blind as a bat." Jesse said, sounding faintly embarrassed. "But yeah, that's Morrison."

"Ah." That said, Gabe had the decency to feel a little guilty for judging him so harshly last night. 

"Eh, no worries. It's not like he heard ya." Jesse nodded, as the waitress finally returned to them, and Gabriel was made suddenly aware that he still had no idea what to order. He and Jesse ended up both getting the forest fruits pancake, which he found to be absolutely as good as the cowboy had suggested. He would have been tempted to get seconds if there weren't quite so many of them. 

\-- - --

The two of them built up quite a repartee, as Gabriel found the man to be almost uniquely open and friendly, though with a tendency to be snarky that could only be met with as many sarcastic comments as he could possibly muster. Gabe was just about ready to leave when Reuben came bursting in through the door, holding- was that- a werthers original?

"Holy heck, Jess!" He yelled, scrambling back up onto his seat from earlier. 

"I told ya not to call me that, kiddo." Jesse reminded him not unkindly. 

"Hey, this is important! Check it out!" He opened his hand to reveal- yup, that was definitely a werthers original. "Morrison gave it to me if i promised not to follow him today." 

"What's so important about this guy that he has to bribe you not to follow him?" Gabe raised an eyebrow at Reuben's grinning face. "What, does he run some kind of secret sand-based theme park out there or something? A drug cartel? What's this guy's deal?" 

"That's the question!" Reuben winked conspiratorially, leaning over to whisper hushedly in his ear. "Every single day, for as long as I can remember, he has made his two daily trips out into the desert, one in the morning, one in the evening. Nobody knows where he goes, or if there's something out there he goes to see. I've been following him every morning for months now, trying to figure out what's going on with him."

"So what is it, then? Mr Morrison's big secret?" 

"Well, if I knew I wouldn't still be doing it, would I?" Reuben rolled his eyes as if it were so obvious. 

"Hey, wait now, you're really telling me you've been following this guy every day for months and you don't know where he's going?"

Reuben frowned. "Hey, it ain't so easy 's it sounds. Morrison's faster than he looks, and it gets kinda boring out there after the first few minutes. I got things to do, y'know."

"That said," Reuben continued, "I think I'm wearing him down. If I give it a couple weeks he might even tell me what it is he goes to see out there." 

"Well, good luck with that, kid." Gabriel said with a smile. "You can tell me all about it tomorrow morning. I think I'll check out those landmarks you were telling me about, yeah?" 

"Be careful! You don't want to overexcite yourself, old man!" Reuben called out to him as he dismounted his stool. 

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to sit down if I feel like passing out from the excitement of it." Gabriel called back as he made his exit from the R&R Diner, past smiling waitresses and numerous other citizens who thought they were being subtle in their interest in him, out into the great outdoors, where a cloud of dust swallowed him whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! We're gonna see a lot more of Jack in upcoming chapters, I promise you!!
> 
> Find me at mothdads.tumblr.com and as always have a mighty fine day!!!!!!!


	3. Sightseeing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel takes in all the sights that Willsdale has to offer, as well as one that isn't on the local postcards.

Gabriel experienced all the worldly delights of the town of Willsdale in the space of an afternoon. He went to the local movie theatre, manned by a skeleton crew of desolate teenagers and watched an unmemorable film in an empty cinema. There had been a piano on the stage that had no doubt belonged to the era of silent films, when maybe in a better time for the town the population had congregated in this same room, watching classic black and white films as a pianist played music at all the appropriate parts. What had this town been like back then? It was easy enough to imagine, since a lot of the architecture remained very much unchanged since at very least the fifties, but he had to wonder, how had it really been? Could this place have really been the beating heart of a desert community? Or was that just him looking through rose tinted glasses? Perhaps the town had never had an easy time of it, perhaps it had always had that same bitter taste of existentialism and seclusion that it had today. So he pondered.

Then, he had gone to the abandoned military base. It was old, far older than anything Gabe had ties to, but it still brought him back, still made him feel much more than he wanted to be feeling, even now, so many years after the war. He found himself leaving quite suddenly. He hadn't felt like it, he told himself. That was all. 

He popped into another local store on his way back, to buy himself a few essential food-stuffs and then drop them off at the motel, where he spent as little time as he possibly could. 

Later he had made yet another trip out, over to the other edge of town to see the Elvis rock. Honestly, Gabe didn't know quite what he expected but it really was a rock that said Elvis on it. No more, no less. He had taken a photo for good measure.

He walked back. He listened to Iowa by Slipknot. The heat of the day was disappearing now, leaving it at quite a reasonable temperature. He knew his phone had missed calls. He hadn't listened to them. He knew there would be friends, family, maybe an ex-coworker or two worried about him, but the need to contact them wasn't that pressing. His sisters were used to this, used to him going under the radar every so often, and anybody else? Well, they probably wouldn't be too bothered by his absence. 

He had liberties, so many more than the average man of his age. No partner. No kids. Nobody in fact who relied on him, not since all his sisters had grown up. There was a certain luxury to it, being able to get up at the drop of a hat and just leave, to have the freedom and disposable income that a lack of family allowed. But, sometimes he wondered if he would want to escape in the way that he did if there was just someone that Gabe needed to care for. 

But what the fuck did it matter anyway? Gabe was happy enough as he was, and certainly wasn't intent on the idea of signing up to one of those shitty dating services, not to mention that he'd have to give up the (dubious) glory of a flip phone to be able to get the app. Nobody could be incommunicado with a smartphone, there was always some feature or bug or backdoor feeding the government all your GPS information, and that was not Gabe's prerogative. How could one disappear, reaper-like into the shadows, with all that going on? 

Speaking of life in the shadows, Gabe heard the footsteps coming just in time to step to the side, as Mr Morrison powered past him. 

Now how the hell did a blind man do that? He didn't have a cane, or a service dog or anything, and yet he moved unwaveringly in a set direct direction, in complete control, fully capable and aware of himself, or so it seemed. As he watched the man fade into the distance he felt a great wind rise, levitating the grit and dust into swirling loops, surrounding him. 

There in front of him the last particular mystery of Willsdale passed into the distance. As the wind blasted through his hair, he was seized with a compulsion. He would not be staying long in the town, he had already decided, but how could he leave without checking out this final *mystery*? 

Gabe set off in hot pursuit of the Morrison's quickly disappearing silhouette. He followed the main road, along and along and along, until, just past the gas station, he took a dramatic left, off into the desert. Gabe followed along. He could overtake Morrison easily, and yet, he felt like he was better off following from a safe distance. He was overthinking it, it wasn't like Morrison would be able to tell he was there, of course, but he had a gut feeling about this, and Gabe trusted his instincts. It wasn't like he exactly could lose the old man. 

They trudged along in perfect synchronisation, until the town was a distant afterthought in the back of his mind. They were totally alone, two men surrounded by the sand. The desert was expansive. How many miles in this direction to the nearest human life? How many miles to the sea, how many miles to something he could recognise, or at least something that wasn't fucking sand? 

He was pitifully aware that his trainers weren't suited to this terrain. They were sweaty and uncomfortable, and he would have sand between his toes for at least the next month. How had Morrison managed the same trek, twice daily, every day, every month, every year? Physically it was achievable, but what kind of mental state would a person have to be in to do something like that? 

He reminded himself that he wasn't exactly one to talk, being the man who had in the space of three days quit his job, left his apartment and gone on an unexplained vacation into the centre of a desert, if it could even be called a vacation. He had made a lot of other poor life choices too, but not twice a day, every day for what had to be several years.

Morrison set a fearsome pace, that was for sure. 

How long was this going to go on? He wondered to himself. Had the man gotten lost? Were they just wandering aimlessly in the desert? Come to think of it, this was a stupid idea, and it was bound to go wrong. He was not prepared to take a walk in the desert, hadn't planned for it at all. He had a bottle of water on him but it was almost empty, and a fat lot of good it would do him if he got lost out here. He was almost tempted to go back, but that in itself could be a bad idea, which could also easily get him lost. He looked behind him for any hint of a local landmark, anything that might navigate him back to the town but came up empty. 

Maybe a phone with GPS wasn't such a bad idea after all. 

He turned back around, more intent than ever to follow Morrison- after all, if he had made it back all the other days surely today could be no different. 

 

Therein lay his mistake.

Morrison was gone. 

Gabe swore loudly to himself. This couldn't be fucking happening. Morrison had been right there, and it's not like there was anywhere for him to disappear to. 

Surging forward, Gabe followed his footprints, imprinted easily into the sand, starting in alarm as another great gust of wind rushed past, sweeping the surface of the sand clean. Devoid of prints. 

Fuck. 

Maybe the old bastard had just tripped over, wasn't wearing his life alert. He could die out here, easily, especially if he lost his bearings. Gabe would just make it over that ridge, would just check, and then he'd head back. He would come to a road soon enough, most probably. Anything else was just paranoia talking. 

The incline was steeper than it looked, taking slightly more concerted effort to ascend. Was this what Morrison came out here for? A steep hill? 

Then he reached the top. It, the mound, the ridge, the hill, was not a mound or a hill at all. It wasn't a ridge either. 

It was, to use what he thought was the technical term of, a basin. A huge basin, completely devoid of water, steep enough that it cut through to the layers of dirt and rock below. Could it possibly be a crater? It certainly looked like something off the surface of the moon. There, deep down at the epicentre of it, there was something. Gabriel could not make it out for the life of him, for it appeared to be surrounded by barbed wire of all things. 

Morrison was nowhere in sight. But right now, Gabriel's focus was not on him, distracted as he was by the great scene of cosmic proportions laid out in front of him. 

He had to see it closer up. He just had to. 

Turning himself about, and establishing a firm grip on the edge of the crater, he lowered himself down, beginning to scale the earthen wall, his descent made easier by the slight incline. 

He reached the bottom fully intact and slightly dusty. He brushed the dust off onto his tee-shirt, and approached the barbed wire. 

The object, whatever it was, was well protected. The fence had an electricity warning of a very high voltage, though Gabe judged it to probably be a bluff, judging by the lack of a visible power source and the decreased likelihood of anyone being here anyway. But, he wasn't foolhardy enough to figure it out. He was however just smart enough to have the wonderful idea of circumventing the fence to find the gate, which did not look electrified, and hung open on a rusty hinge. 

He stood before it, staring through the slim gap at the object those fences were protecting. 

A rock. Meteorite? Had to be, from the way it lay partially submerged in the ground. It was perfectly, beautifully black, and as he shifted slightly, he watched iridescent hues glimmer off its surface. It certainly looked other worldly, the colour of a rift in time.  
It called to him. He could touch it, he could experience this little part of space if only he reached out his hand-  
He reached an arm out, entranced. He was so close, he could almost- 

 

Gabriel heard a click, and felt cold metal pressing into his back.

 

"Lower your hand." Said a voice, quiet and lethally serious.

"Morrison?" Gabe said, hearing his voice reverberate around the crater. Morrison... Morrison. 

It didn't sound like his voice. 

 

"Lower your hand, and when I tell you to, step back from the meteorite." 

Gabe lowered his hand, because he did not particularly want to be shot. 

"And you're gonna take a step back... now."

He complied. The gun didn't waver for a second, and Gabriel could tell that the man was deadly serious.

"Now, you're going to tell me who you work for, and don't lie, or I will shoot you here and now." 

 

Fuck. This was some next level shit he had stumbled onto right here. Either Morrison was straight up crazy, or this he was involved in some kind of high-clearance operation, and frankly, he didn't fancy his odds in either situation. What did he say? Did he lie? What could he even say? At this point any wrong move anything he said wrong could potentially cost him his life. 

He took a deep, deep breath, knowing full well it could be his last.

"I... I'm currently unemployed."

"Okay smartass, who sent you here?" Morrison growled through gritted teeth. 

"Listen, Morrison, I will tell you the truth, 100%, but please can you hold off on that whole 'shooting me' thing? Please." 

"If I think you pose a danger to me, I will shoot." Morrison uttered, his tone not lightening for a second.

Good enough. 

"I only came here on a whim." A long pause existed between them. 

"Are you seriously telling me-"

"I used to work at a bank. I left last Friday, and on Monday I got on a bus, and it took me here." 

The man, who Gabe assumed was Morrison, but had never bothered to clarify, barely concealed a snort of derision. "You're a shit liar." 

"Why would I lie about this? You're clearly going to shoot me anyway." Gabe said, and shrugged. 

"If you're telling the truth, who did you work for? What was your job?" Morrison asked with a hint of smugness, obviously convinced he'd outwitted him.

Gabe sighed. "I was a UX specialist. I worked in a bank."

"UX?"

"It stands for user experience."

"So... a web designer?" 

"Not quite. But you've got the gist of it."

The man was silent for a while. Finally, he seemed to have thought of something to say. 

"So, if you really are a... User Experience specialist... what the hell brought you out here?"

"Wanderlust." Gabe said simply. There wasn't much else to say. "You inclined to stop pointing that gun at me anytime soon, Morrison?" 

"And how do you know my name, exactly?" 

"Some of the locals told me. Reuben & Jesse."

"The McCree kids? Seriously?" Morrison swore loudly. "For fucks sake. First trespasser I get in thirteen damn years of this job and it's a fucking tourist." 

Gabe felt the pressure on his back ease, and heard Morrison step back. He turned around very slowly. The man was in fact Jack Morrison, who was staring at him with milky, silverish-blue eyes, which wandered slightly, tracing over the rough area that Gabe filled. He could be as blind as the two cousins had said, and yet Gabe was filled with the compulsion that he was being watched. He moved too quickly, too surely and too stealthily for a blind man.   
Morrison seemed acutely aware of his every move, gun still firmly trained at Gabe's chest. He did not recognise the gun. It was certainly not standard issue, and was painted blue, which probably signified something or another. 

"What's your name, civilian?" Morrison's eyelids flickered at him, wearing an expression just slightly set apart from his customary frown. It made him look more human, which Gabe did not like. 

"Gabriel Reyes." He said resignedly. 

"Reyes?" Morrison asked, butchering the pronunciation. 

"Something like that." Gabe could not help but to roll his eyes. 

 

Morrison's expression hardened. "I've heard that name somewhere before."

Gabriel's eyes widened.

"I-" He opened his mouth to speak and then was silent, as what felt like a bowling ball dropped from a great height thudded into his chest, propelling him backwards as he felt his muscles weakening, eyesight fading to black, felt himself hit the ground, all things distant in his mind, and then? Nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Finally, Jack has made an entrance in all his grumpy, terrifying glory!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. The full Bates Motel experience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe's fucking dead. End of story.
> 
>  
> 
> Or is he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: The canon ages in this chapter have been changed from 41 (Jack) and 43 (Gabe) to 45 and 49, because I felt like it was more apt.

The world was blurry. Gabriel coalesced within his skin, slowly regaining consciousness. His muscles felt too heavy for him. He opened his mouth to speak, but his lips felt like they had been stung all over by nettles, stubbornly refusing to open. His body felt like utter shit. His insides felt like liquid, though he also felt very dehydrated, which was not a good combination. 

After a while, he began to feel a little more alive, and managed to open his eyes just a little more. Everything was black. Completely. Freakishly dark. 

Was he blind? Was he? Holy fuck, what had Morrison even shot him with? The area where he had been shot hurt like hell, but Gabe knew what a bullet wound felt like, and that was not it. 

Had to be some sort of fast-acting tranquilliser, didn't it? Had he maybe had an allergic reaction to it? Could you have an allergic reaction to ketamine? Had the stuff that he'd been shot with actually been ketamine? Or something else? Also, where the fuck was he? 

Was he inside or outside? Was it night or day? Why could he feel wind against his skin, and why was it so damnably cold here? 

Gabe made a gallant attempt to move his arms, which was a critical failure, but he knew now that his hands were tied into place behind his back. 

He was tied to a chair. 

 

Gabe tried to open his mouth once again, and coughed pitiably. In a second, the wind rustling through his hair stopped suddenly. He could hear noises, faintly at first, then getting closer, and then he could see a light. It was only faint, far away, but it still hurt his eyes to look at it. He squinted at it blearily. The light was coming through a doorway, a flight of stairs up from where he sat. This looked to be a basement, then, Gabe noticed with only mild horror. At this point he had already been through what could easily been the plots of at least three horror movies. Being stuck in some dingy basement was just the icing on the cake. 

 

He could see a silhouette appear at the top of the stairs. Morrison. It could only be him. Well, at least it did seem only to be him. He started to walk down the stairs. He was not exhibiting the unnatural balance and poise he had earlier, and was making a slow descent, clinging quite closely to the handrail. 

As he went, he pulled out a phone, and appeared to be calling someone. 

"Yes? Witness disposal team? You'll be here in a few hours? Perfect." He put the phone back in his pocket, nearing the last few steps, and descended without tripping once, which Gabe had secretly hoped would happen. He approached the area where Gabe stood, and put his phone down on small table beside him that Gabe had not noticed before. 

It illuminated the darkness, a beacon in the black, and gave Gabe enough light to see his surroundings in more depths. It was a basement, certainly. Cold, but it seemed fairly clean, if quite dusty, and there was a bookshelf in the corner, along with a few large boxes that looked like they hadn't been touched for years. 

"So, you feel like telling me why I know your name?" He snarled, looking very intimidating. He would have looked more intimidating if he had been looking in Gabe's direction. Gabe couldn't help but to find it slightly funny.

"I don't know. Have you been looking to hire a UX specialist for a website that you own? How about a guitar tutor? I used to do that for a while."

Gabriel could tell the man was seething. 

"I swear to God, Reyes, tell me the truth or I'll fucking shoot you again."

"Oh, and another thing, it's Reyes. Rey-es. Not Rays, white boy. If you are gonna threaten me can you at least do me the decency of pronouncing my damn name properly?"

"What was it, Reyes?" Morrison asked, utterly failing to change his pronunciation. "Talon? Los Muertos? Don't try to hide it, Reyes, my people know everyone. We'll find out who you are soon enough."

"Then why don't you know already?" Gabe asked, mouth slipping sluggishly into a grin. Something was going on here, Morrison was bluffing about something. He didn't know what it was just yet, but he could just tell. 

Morrison took a step closer, and delivered a brutal kick to his shin. 

"Tell me who you are, Reyes, or I swear to God i'll-"

"Shoot me? Again?" 

"Yes, dammit!"

 

The two stared at each other in a loaded silence. Or at least, Gabe stared at Morrison, Morrison stared at a patch of wall just to the left of Gabriel's head.

"You're a fucking psycho, you know that?" Gabe regarded him in tired defiance. 

"Just tell me why I know your fucking name, Reyes, if you really aren't working for someone you'll have nothing to hide." 

"Well truth be told, Morrison, I don't have a fucking clue." That one earned him a hard slap, but Gabriel could have taken worse in his sleep. 

"None whatsoever?" Morrison hissed. "Are you absolutely sure?"

Gabe nodded, then realised that Morrison probably couldn't see him doing so. 

"Well?"

"My mind's still blank." He said shortly. 

There was another long pause. 

Morrison went and perched himself on the table. He seemed to be thinking. 

"Did you ever... live in Indiana?"

"Nope."

"And, you've always been a civilian?"

Ahhh. Oops. 

"Not always." Reyes admitted. 

"I fucking knew it." Morrison jumped from the table, and stood very close to Gabe indeed, his eyes close enough to Gabe's that he did actually seem fairly intimidating.

"Hey, hey, don't go crazy now Morrison, that was a long time ago now." He said quietly. 

"How long ago, exactly?" Came the harsh reply. 

Gabriel sighed. There it was. His past coming back to haunt him once again. Sixteen fucking years and yet it all came down to this, despite every attempt to block it out.

"Sixteen years ago."

The effect was instantaneous. Morrison looked alert, breathed through clenched teeth, and where the hell had he pulled that gun from?

"What department did you work in?" 

 

You could have cut the atmosphere with a butter knife.

 

"Blackwatch."

Silence. And then Gabriel heard a sound that shook him to his core. 

Morrison was laughing. He was laughing, and it was terrifying, it was the kind of laugh that was utterly cold and devoid of empathy. 

"I guess I was right all along! Talon? Really? How very cliché" Morrison sneered down at him, mouth locked in a perverse smile.

"I was not one of them." Gabriel said with as much calm as he could muster. "Fucking google me. How many Talon agents are listed by name? Mine's right there with the rest of the whistle-blowers."

"And yet you didn't mention this earlier?" Morrison asked with a wolfish smile.

"Oh, I’m sorry, my mind was on other things. Like the fact that you fucking shot me!"

Morrison raised an eyebrow at him. "You're a terrible liar, you know, Reyes."

"Likewise." Gabe glared at him bitterly. "Oh, and you're shit at bluffing, Morrison. I know you weren't on the phone to anyone."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Morrison said without flinching, but Gabe could read it in his body language.

“Come the fuck on, do you really expect me to believe that you’d get signal down here? In a town like this? I’m not an idiot, old man.” 

Morrison glowered at him. “Don’t fucking call me that. You worked at Blackwatch, that’s makes you about the same age as me.”

“Not necessarily.” Gabe regarded him derisively. At this point, condescension was just about the only thing he had.

“If you joined when most of the rest of us did, then yes, you would be.” 

Gabe considered. “I don’t think so. How old even are you anyway?”

 

Not a polite thing to ask, but Gabe was going to prove his point, and it wasn’t like he could offend the man currently pointing a gun at him any worse than he already had.

 

“Forty-five last June.” Came the brusque reply.

“Well, shit.” Who would have thought? Who would have fucking thought? “You don’t look it.”

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t mean that as a compliment.” Gabriel smirked back at him. 

“Oh, you are cruising for a bruising, Reyes.” Morrison sighed. “Anyone ever tell you that it might be a bad idea to insult the man holding you at gunpoint?”

“Well, considering I’m already here.” Gabe shrugged, or tried to. It was hard when you were tied to a chair, as anyone who has tried to shrug nonchalantly while tied to just about anything could tell you. 

“Besides, I have my pride. Whatd’you expect me to do, flatter you? Offer to suck your dick?”

 

Morrison regarded how which could have been faint amusement. “At least buy me dinner first.”

“Get fucked, asshole.” 

“I think your seduction technique needs improvement, Reyes.” Morrison’s lip twitched just slightly at the corner. 

 

Gabriel gave one last, long suffering sigh. 

“How many times are you gonna get that wrong. Reyes. Say it with me. Reyes. Reyes.” 

 

“Reh-yes?” Morrison asked, looking more than faintly amused now.

“Oh for fucks sake. You know what? Just call me Gabriel.”

Morrison, meanwhile, was trying not to laugh. “We’re on a first name basis now?” 

“Might as well be. You could be the last person I talk to, after all. What do I have to lose?”

“Jack.” 

“What?”

“Jack Morrison. Seeing as we’re getting properly acquainted. There’s nothing I have to lose by telling you either. In a few days you won’t remember anything about Willsdale, or about me.”

 

Ah. So that was what Jack’s people were planning to do with him. It was better than death. Provided he remembered anything else besides.

“Will I remember anything?”

Morrison shrugged. “It’s an inexact science, but you ought to come out of it mostly unchanged.”

Not quite reassuring, but close to it. 

“Do you think you could just let me go instead? I’ll pretend none of this ever happened, I swear.”

Jack snorted. “Nice try. They’ll be on the way, just as soon as I can figure out how to get the screen-reader to work.”

“Then you really are as blind as they say?”

“Tactful, Gabriel. Real tactful. Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. And that doesn’t make me a pushover, so don’t try anything.”

“I could help you with the phone?” He suggested innocently. 

“You really do think I’m stupid, don’t you?” 

“I was just trying to be polite.” Gabe chuckled. It was worth a try after all. 

“Why, what a polite young man!” Morrison exclaimed sarcastically. “Oh yeah, I absolutely want to untie your hands and hand you my phone, so you can, I don’t know, call the police?”

“Surely you have nothing to fear from the police?” Gabriel replied sweetly. “Besides, I thought we agreed I was the older one here?”

“I don’t believe you mentioned that? Though it is slightly gratifying. How much older, exactly?”

“Forty-nine.” Gabriel admitted sullenly. 

“And I’m sure you look perfectly dreadful for it too.” 

“I age like a fine wine, Morrison. You age like white lightning.”

 

Jack retreated slightly, sitting back upon the table, obviously convinced that Gabe was not a threat. That was nice at least. 

“You’re showing your age there, Gabriel. They stopped making that stuff years ago.”

“And for a good reason. It tastes like you look.”

“Smartass.”

“I do my best.” 

Laughing slightly to himself, Jack stood up. 

“I’m gonna go upstairs, see if I can confirm your story. Don’t try anything. You try to escape and-“

“You shoot me. I know.”

“Exactly.”

He watched Morrison make a slow ascent up the stairs. 

“Ever thought of getting a chair lift?” He called after him. 

“Screw you, Gabriel!” He shouted back. 

“Seriously, you’re worrying me! You could fall and break your hip!” Gabe yelled sarcastically. 

“I’ll be fine, Gabriel, you’ll see.” 

 

He was nearing the top now. 

 

“Also, can you get me a glass of water while you’re up there? I’m fucking thirst Morrison, and your hospitality is crap!”

 

Morrison just laughed, and shut the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being finished way closer than I expected!
> 
> Thanks for reading, friends! Hope you enjoyed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	5. An absolute measure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Gabe got to work. 

Using his feet, he began to slowly push the chair across the room to the table, and began to try to cut the ropes tied around him on the edge of the table. 

It was slow going. The knots were well-tied, and the rope was too tight for him to slip his hands out of, but just loose enough that it didn’t cut off all the blood to his fingers.  
Damn Jack and his ridiculous knot-tying ability. What was he, a fucking boy-scout? Oh Gabe bet he was, he could just imagine him as some blonde & cherubic poster child for the boy-scouts of America. He had no idea what Morrison had really looked like as a kid, but the image seemed to fit. After all, Morrison couldn’t have been an insane, half-dead looking hermit his whole life. And had he said he was from Indiana? Of course. 

 

“You know, you aren’t going to get far with that.” Jack had appeared at the top of the stairs again. “I did warn you.”

“So shoot me.”

“Not unless I have to.” He regarded Gabe with interest. “Besides, you keep going like that, and you’ll die of dehydration way earlier than you can get that rope off your wrists.” 

“So give me something to drink, you sick fuck!”

“That’s very rude, Gabriel. To think I was beginning to like you.” He held a hand out in front of him, and Gabe could see it contained a glass of water. Fuck, he was so thirsty. His head ached like someone was whacking it from inside with a mallet.

“Please, Jack, don’t be an asshole about this.” He said, and he knew Jack could hear the fear in his voice. It was impossible to hide it.

“You promise to stop trying to escape?” 

“I promise.” Gabe said, more quickly than he should have. “Please.”

Jack nodded, and started his descent down the stairs. A few times his foot landed a little unsteadily, and Gabe felt a pain in his chest for every drop of water that he spilt on the stairs.

Finally, Jack reached the bottom step and Gabe felt himself sigh in relief. He guided himself carefully around the basement, until he reached where Gabe was now situated, next to the table. Gabe felt a warm hand grasp his shoulder. 

“I’ll try to spill as little as I can, okay? But you have to trust me.” 

“Okay.” Gabe said, swallowing his pride. His lips were cracked, and it was getting increasingly uncomfortable to move them. 

Jack felt around for a few seconds in a rather clumsy attempt to find Gabe’s mouth. “Sorry about that.” He said. “Bit ignoble. Could you just-"

"What?"

"Lean your head back a little bit?"

Gabriel complied, and let Jack pour a trickle of water down his throat. He actually managed to get most of it down without coughing or spluttering. Some of it did end up on his tee-shirt, adding to the considerable wear and tear it had received in the last few days. If he did get out of this situation alive it might have to be relegated to being exclusively a pyjama top. 

"You still thirsty?" 

"I'm more hungry than anything at this point." He admitted. 

'Well, I'll get you something to eat, but I warn you, don't be expecting it to be decent quality."

"What did I tell you about your hospitality, Morrison? Needs work."

"You wouldn't be the first to tell me that, you know." Jack smiled slightly. 

"And for a good reason! People don't usually take kindly to being tied up in other people's basements, you know."

"I'm only following orders, Gabriel." Morrison reminded him quietly. 

"You know, I used to think that too, Morrison, but then I got a closer look at the people giving me orders, and you know what I saw?"

"That's different, Gabriel. Talon don't give me orders."

"Your orders still come from people, don't they Morrison? People fuck up, people make really bad choices all the time. Do you really think they know any better than the rest of us?"

Jack sighed impatiently. "I'm not about to start questioning my superior officers, Gabriel. They know what they're doing."

"Did you always know what you were doing in your job?" 

Jack shook his head. "Not all the time, no. Sometimes you’ve got to make the call regardless." 

Gabe rolled his eyes. Did Jack hear himself speak? 

"Did you give people orders?"

"Sometimes." Jack said cagily. 

"You see?"

Jack looked at him. 

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that by deferring accountability to your commanding officers people avoid feeling accountable for the deeds that they carry out themselves, and to ignore the unethical nature of their own actions."

"Oh spare me the philosophy lecture, you work in a bank. I've saved lives."

"And taken them away too, I take it."

Jack turned back towards the stairs. "I'm walking away, Gabriel."

"Your orders come from people just like everyone else, Jack! Get a big enough organisation together and suddenly nobody's responsible! Your orders may have come from above, but you're the one carrying them out! You're the one who put me here, Jack!" He continued shouting, even though by now Jack had reached the top of the stairs and closed the door behind him. 

Morrison was in a surly mood when he returned, and he did a terrible job of spoon-feeding him a lasagne ready-meal, which Gabriel did not appreciate, nor did he appreciate the clumsy attempt to wipe said lasagne from around the sides of his mouth. 

At one point however, Jack did manage to locate the light switch, though not without a great deal of fumbling around and swearing. Now they sat in an awkward sort of silence, as Jack tried again and again to figure out his smartphone. 

"I had this all set up! It should bloody work!"

"Is there no other way to unlock it?" Gabriel suggested unhelpfully from the other side of the room.

"Nothing else I can do! I can't find the right keys!"

"And you're sure you don't want my help?" 

“I’ve told you, I’m not going to untie you from that chair, and I’m certainly not giving you access to my phone!” 

“Seriously, Jack? I’m dying of old age here. You’re going to have a corpse in your basement if you don’t figure out how to use that thing soon enough.” 

“You won’t die. I’ll keep you alive.”

“Your lasagne is a fate worse than death, Morrison. Come on, let me have a go at it.” He shuffled his chair over to where Jack was sitting, peering down at his phone. 

“I could always just tell you where each letter is on the keyboard, you know. You tell me what your password is and I’ll try to guide you through it.” 

“I don’t think I want you to know what my phone password is, Gabriel. You could do terrible things with that knowledge.” He said flatly.

“Aren’t you wiping my mind with dangerous experimental technology? Me knowing your phone password is the least of your worries.” 

Jack just grunted. 

“Fine, but no funny stuff.” 

You’d think someone had just pissed on his favourite rug from the way he frowned, but Gabe was beginning to suspect that this was just part of his general ambience. 

“So, what is it then?”

Jack’s frown deepened. 

“Come on, Jack, I haven’t got all day.” Gabe found himself quickly growing frustrated with the man’s antics. He just wanted this all to be over, was that so much to ask? 

“Soldier76.” 

“With a space or without?”

“No space. No capitals either.”

“Okay then.”

Gabriel began the difficult task of dictating to the blind man which letters he had to touch, which was made even harder by the odd angle from which he was trying to look at the phone. They got it wrong three times, and Jack accused him of doing it on purpose, to which Gabe asked him what exactly he would get out of lying about where the letters were. Morrison’s fingers were too big and clumsy for the dinky little screen, that was their real problem, but mentioning it would not have helped either of them, so Gabriel refrained. Just. 

 

“The contacts app is the one on the bottom left.” He told Morrison sagely, watching him fumble with it like a fucking idiot for a while before getting it right. 

“You’re in, Morrison. Which of these is the number you need to call?”

“It’s down as Samantha.”

“Who’s that, Morrison? Your girlfriend?”

“It’s a codename to make the number less conspicuous.”

“Fine, fine, don’t tell me about your girlfriend then.” Gabe sighed dramatically. “Start scrolling. Slowly. I’ll tell you when you get to it.”

Muttering irately to himself as if Gabe could not hear him, Morrison scrolled through his contacts. It did not take long. For some reason, Jack did not seem to have many friends. Gabriel could not think why, for Jack was obviously the very height of congeniality…

“Stop! That’s the one.”

“Where do I press?”

“Left- hand side. No, the other left. No, down a bit. Down a bit more. You got it! Right there.” 

“Thanks.” Jack straightened out once more, balanced on unsteady feet. “I- uh. I oughtta take this upstairs, right?”

“You’ll get better signal up there!” Called Gabe after him. 

“I know.” 

“Ah, but do you really?” Gabriel muttered to himself.

Jack had left the door open. Gabriel could hear him pacing, waiting for the call to go through. Then it was quiet for a while. Gabe could make out the sound of another voice, but not the words.

“What?” He heard distantly. “No, no that’s not what I’m asking. I’m telling you, I need a team down here to deal with a civilian. Yes, I am sure he’s a civilian!”

Gabriel’s blood grew cold.

“No, I understand what you’re saying, but that’s not protocol!”

Then Gabe heard another voice, clear enough for him to hear it. 

“The protocol had changed, Morrison.”

There was a strained silence. Morrison moved away from the door, and now Gabe could only hear splinters of the conversation.  
Knowing Jack would most likely distracted, he started working away at the ropes binding his hands once again, with added desperate fervour. This could not happen, he could not die here, not now, not after all this! The ropes were still solid, tied around him, but the chair itself had begun to rattle, and Gabe was gripped by an idea. Hooking one of his legs around a chair-leg (in a way that his leg was not supposed to bend in, not in this painful position) and pulled with all his might, and suddenly Gabe could hear it loosen.

He could hear Morrison talking again now, getting closer and closer, could hear arguing between him and the person on the phone. 

The chair leg was very loose now, Gabe could do this yet, he could-

“No, I don’t need a team to help me handle this.” Came an irate voice from not nearly as far away as he had hoped. 

Gabe gave the chair leg one last shove and the whole thing gave way, collapsing to the ground in a mangled mess of chair legs, rope and Gabriel Reyes. 

“No, that really won’t be necessary.” Jack said, voice reverberating around the basement as if it were carried by a gale. “I’m perfectly capable of killing someone by myself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooops :^)
> 
>  
> 
> \-- - --  
> Thank you for reading!!!!! I'm not usually this sadistic, I promise!


	6. Don't look back...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the fight you've all been waiting for.

The figure of Jack Morrison drew closer. 

Had he heard the chair break? Did he know Gabriel was free? 

Was he still armed? 

Gabriel stood deadly still, aware that Morrison had already demonstrated remarkable spacial awareness when they were out in the desert. He seemed less sure of himself here, which Gabe could use to his advantage, but underestimating him could be fatal in this situation. 

Morrison didn't seem blind to the situation either.

Heh. Blind.

If Gabe didn’t fear for his life it would have been quite funny. 

Every step on the creaking wood resounded, every footfall lasted an eternity. Jack drew ever nearer. In his right hand there was a gun. Gabriel flinched involuntarily.

Jack stopped, just for a second. Had he heard? 

Slowly, painfully so, the next footfall came, and then the next. He was far too near now, would hear Gabriel breathing, and then his little vantage point to the side of the door would be worth nothing.

It was now or never.

Gabe lunged at Jack, catching him upside the head with a solid right hook, that sent Jack flying back into the wall, and the gun flying. Gabriel lunged for the gun, to try to grab it, but missed, watching it land and skid under a bookcase, and wondered why the fuck that had to happen to him. And then Jack was upon him again, catching him in the chest and pinning him against a wall. 

"Don't make this any harder for me than it has to be, Gabriel." 

Gabriel responded by head-butting him in the nose.

Morrison let go of him with a yelp, and in that second Gabe was gone, hammering up the basement stairs as if his very life depended on it. 

Jeez, thought Gabe. The yearning to make death related puns was really starting to get to him. Maybe it was the adrenaline fucking with his brains. 

Gabriel emerged into a hallway, and was struck by the realization that he had no idea where either direction lead. He had not been here before, and it seemed like a pretty big house. 

He chose the left path, keeping a good pace, and nearly colliding with a particularly old and kitschy looking vase. Dead end. Three doors. Staircase. 

Footsteps behind him. 

He knew going up a floor would be a bad idea. 

 

He chose the furthest door from him, lurched through the doorway towards the nearest window. No time for anything else, he steeled himself, letting a fist fly through the window, thousands of tiny splinters of glass embedding themselves in his hand.

Then a force from behind grabbed him, pulling him back. Gabe swung an elbow back, catching him in the side, and hOLY SHIT, WAS THAT A FUCKING RIFLE?

Gabriel grabbed the side of it, trying with all his might to angle it away from his face. A shot went off, barely missing the side of his head. Then a gust of wind came roaring in through the shattered window, blowing shards of glass to viciously cut across his upper arm and Gabe yelped as Morrison, suddenly strangely reinvigorated, wrenched the rifle clear out of Gabe's hands, and then Gabriel found himself looking into the solemn face of death. 

Jack Morrison stood over him, breath ragged, face bloodied had his rifle pointed squarely at Gabe's head, and there could be no question of the lethality of these particular bullets.

 

Gabe had always been painfully aware of his own mortality. He had known it was coming, ever since he was twelve, and had gotten home from school to hear that his father was dead, a martyr for no cause.That he would not be coming home tonight.  
He had felt it when he had joined the army straight out of High School, had known why it was that his mother could not bear to look him in the eye. He had felt the distress of unending futility after the Omnic Crisis, and had been almost dragged under by his own empathy, the only obstacle to achieving what so many others viewed as his full potential as a soldier. It had been what pushed him to accept a position in Blackwatch, and then to abandon it as he had seen what the product of his and so many others good intentions had become. An easy, guilt free way to get rid of the people who disagreed with it.

Gabriel had spent a lot of moments over the years wondering how he would die. He had been through a whole load of different scenarios and options. Somehow, this one had never crossed his mind.

He stared in calm, empty desolation at Morrison, and suddenly it hit him. 

Morrison hadn't pulled the trigger yet. 

Gabriel watched Jack Morrison, the only sensation that registered with him above the heaving of his lungs, the pumping of his own blood. 

Jack Morrison stood frozen, a deer in the headlights.

Gabriel couldn't quite register it. Morrison was hoarse, wretched, choking on his own breath. Time seemed to move by millisecond, inching past sluggishly, oozing between the two of them.

"I..." Jack breathed, voice catching. "I can't do this anymore."

 

Gabriel stared at him, not sure if he was dreaming, or if this was real, if this could be true. 

"Run, Reyes." He whispered hoarsely. "Run far away from here, and don't look back, not ever."

 

He did not have to be told twice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya boy Dean, bangin out the chapters, heheh. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this one! Was a bit of a challenge for me as I haven't written action like this for a while.


	7. Escape to the Country (extreme edition)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe attempts to catch a bus out of town.

Gabriel stumbled from the window, and as soon as his feet hit solid ground he was running, trying to put as much distance between him and Morrison as was physically possible, past the motel, past the diner, past the gas station to the bus stop where he had disembarked so fatefully, however many nights ago he had gotten here. He stood, catching his breath, trying to figure out what the hell to do. 

The bus stop had no information attached to it whatsoever, the only thing that suggested that it was any more than a bench was the shelter that had been built around it. Gabriel was grateful for the shade. They were in the middle of the dizzying height of daytime, the sun beating down tirelessly, and that wind that had seemed so powerful back at the house was simply not there anymore, offering Gabriel not a hint of respite from the fierce heat. 

His suitcase, his rucksack, everything was back at the motel, but that lay far too close to Morrison's house for comfort. So, he sat, as utterly isolated as he had ever been in that fleeting moment, and the distance no longer felt comforting. It was terrifying, made him feel dizzy, and wracked his body with fear. 

There was nobody who knew he was in this place, this town, nobody who knew what had happened, or what had almost happened. Gabriel could not deal with that. He just couldn't. 

So he sat, head in bloodied hands, waiting for a bus to come, anything that could take him away from this place. 

The sun beat down. 

A patch of yellowed grass swayed slightly, foretelling movement, and Gabe was alert, staring wildly around for the source of the movement, hoping for the feeling of relief that seeing a friendly face might give. 

A bashed up pickup truck pulled up to the gas station, and Gabe saw the huge man who had visited the gas station before pull up. 

He got out, and looked around. He saw Gabe, looked him in the eye. Did he know? Was he in league with Morrison? Was everyone? 

The tall man grunted. Then he went inside.

Gabe breathed deeply, painfully aware of how utterly paranoid he was being. A minute passed. 

Then, he saw a head pop round the door of the gas station. 

It was Jamison, wasn't it? The gas station owner? The man grinned widely and waved to him. 

"Oi mate, you do realise buses don't stop here anymore? You'll get heatstroke sitting out there too long."

Gabriel blinked at him, opening his parched mouth to speak. 

"That can't be right. I came here by bus. They were running on Monday... weren't they?"

Jamison shook his head. "No buses have come through here for years, mate."

"Do you have a taxi service?" Gabriel called back. 

Jamison just laughed. 

"You'd best get in here, mate. Take yourself outta the heat. We got the air con on and everything."

Gabriel was not entirely sure he wanted to, didn't know if he trusted either of the two men in the convenience store any further than he could throw them, and given the state of his arms, he would struggle even with the skinny one. 

He sat, motionless.

"Come on now! You can always go back out if you see one of your buses come through here." The man cackled in an entirely un-reassuring way. 

Still, Jamison was right. Even if the bus still came here, he had no clue when exactly it was, and there was a good chance that sitting out here could do him some pretty severe bodily harm if he carried on this way. So, with a very noted sense of wariness, he stood up, and made a slow trek back into the gas station, where he knew the two men would be waiting. 

As he walked through the door, a wave of cool air washed over him, the difference in temperature almost causing him to shiver. 

"See, wasn't so hard, was it?" Jamison smiled at him, once more lounging around the front desk, two legs- or, as Gabe saw before him, one leg and one prosthetic, old in its design and paintwork, draped over the cash register. 

"You look like shit." Said a low voice from behind him. Mako. Gabe grimaced to himself.

"I feel like shit." He replied. 

"Oooh, yeah, spill the beans, what happened t'ya? Zombies? Those weird ghosts with leprosy form 'The Fog'? Dingoes?"

"No dingoes in america, Jamison." Mako grunted, perusing the shelf of soft toys that somehow counted as the bare essentials that the little store sold. He appeared to be taking quite kindly to a little fuzzy pig plushie, though it barely fit in the palm of his hand.

"I know! That's what'd make it so spoooooky." Jamison said, giggling to himself a little for good measure.

Gabriel just shook his head.

"Awwh, come oooon! Yer can't just not tell us? Look at you, you're bleeding, like, everywhere. You're gonna get my nice floor all messy and I only cleaned it last month!"

So that was why everything felt so sticky in here, Gabe decided.

Behind him, Mako grunted again.

"Ya like the look of that, Hoggy?" Jamison called over. "Cute, ain't it?"

Mako nodded. "How much?" 

"I'll give it ya for free if ya keep an eye on the store while I'm patchin Gabey here up, okay?" He slid lithely from the counter, and lay a clammy hand on Gabe's shoulder. "Come on now, don't just stand here waiting for the grass to grow!" 

Flummoxed by this sudden unexpected act of kindness, Gabriel followed him without question, over to a rickety little back door in the side of the gas station and through to a dingy little store room.

"Hold on a sec! Know I've got a first aid kit somewhere!"

Gabe looked around the room. It looked more like the immediate radius of a nuclear detonation. 

"Are those... plastic explosives?" He asked, cautiously avoiding touching anything.

"Well, you know how it is, a man's gotta have a hobby!" Jamison tittered dangerously, flicking through a collection of terrifyingly spiked objects.

"Aha!" 

He produced a thoroughly battered first aid kit from within the middle of a huge tire that seemed of all things to be adorned with spikes. 

"Siddown on the table and I'll get you sorted out in no time." 

Gabriel gingerly moved some of the dubious implements to the side and sat up on the table, as Jamison removed a pair of tweezers from the box and began to (surprisingly gently) pluck some of the remaining glass shards from his shoulder.

"Soo, Mr Reyes. Care to tell me what really happened to ya? Where ya been these past few days? Pam from the old motel says she ain't seen you for days! You had ta be up to something!"

Ah. That would be a problem. 

Small town, made sense that everyone would know everyone else's business. Problem was, Gabriel lost out in that equation. He was the outsider, the suspect. Not part of the community. And Morrison was. 

Jamison might not on be good terms with Morrison, but he simply could not know that. He could not tell the truth.

"Truth is..." He pondered for a second. "I was walking, in the desert. Middle of the night. Wanted to see the stars. I was just passing by the Elvis rock, when I saw this light, shining above me."

"So? What was it?" Jamison's eyes widened in excitement. 

"Aliens." Said Gabe, completely deadpan. "It was aliens."

"Awesome! Did they probe ya? Did they brainwash ya? Ooooh, did any of em try to have sex with ya?"

"Yes. All of the above."

Jamison laughed. "You're real funny, mate. Still doesn't explain the wounds."

"I must've gotten them escaping." 

He shuddered slightly as Jamison wiped over the broken surface of his skin with an antiseptic wipe.

"Didn't know aliens had guns."

That caught Gabriel's attention. What did Jamison know? 

"Why, d'ya not notice? Yer ear's bleedin pretty heftily there ya know. I don't think alien probing got yer that particular injury."

Gabriel reached a hand up, tracing over the side of his ear, and what he thought had just been a particularly sore glass splinter. Jamison was right, that shot of Morrison's must have been closer to its mark than he had thought, and it had taken a piece of Gabriel with it. 

"I..." He said, and faltered. "I can't tell you that."

"More than yer life's work is worth to tell me, eh? Been there before. 'S why I'm stayin' in this dump, yeah?" 

"Oh really?" Gabe asked, curious despite himself. 

“Yer darn roight! Can’t go back to Australia, can I? Government don’t want me back. Big overreaction if you ask me, but them’s the brakes.” 

Gabriel nodded numbly, as the tall man stuck a fun coloured band aid over a cut on his forehead.

“Yeah, so anyways, I reckon yer a hitman or something, and you came out here to take out one of our folks. But, it didn’t go to plan, so ya need ta be outta town sharpish. Roight?”

He said nothing.

“Ain’t far off, am I?” Jamison looked at him with chillingly serious eyes. 

“If you really think I’m a hitman, why the hell would you be helping me?” Gabriel stared back at Jamison with all the nerve he could muster. He might’ve been stunned by the last few days, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still hold his own. 

“Awww, well, cuz I miss it, dun I? Gets so damn boring out here, ya wouldn’t believe. D’ya know how many customers I’ve had in the last week besides you and Hoggy back there?”

“How many?”

“Not enough.” 

Gabriel winced involuntarily as Jamison wound a bandage around his bloodied ear. 

“So you think by keeping me around you’re going to make things more interesting?” 

Jamison shrugged. “It’s worth a try. Gives me and Mako somethin ta talk about anyway.” 

Gabriel nodded. “You good friends, then?”

“Well I dunno really.” Jamison shrugged. “Kinda hard to tell, really. Dunno if he likes me. He could easily crush my skull between his thighs, no problem. Not that I’d complain!” 

Well, what could he say to that? Jamison seemed to be amused enough that Gabriel doubted he really needed to add anything anyway. 

Jamison’s laughter slowly faded out. “Well, I guess I oughtn’t to keep ya much longer.” He stood back, admiring his handiwork, which Gabe had to say was surprisingly… good? The least that could be said about the lanky man, he was pretty good at first aid. 

“Thank you.” Gabe said, regarding the bandages wound around his hand. 

“No problem! Ooh, did I mention, I like your tee-shirt! Don’t fear the reaper an all that!” 

Huh, Gabe forgot he was wearing that one. Though he barely recognised it as his own, it looked severely more haggard than it had been when he had put it on, whenever that had been. Though Jamison didn’t seem at all bothered by the sweat, blood or patches of lasagne that flecked it. 

“I think I’m gunna call you Reaper! What with you wearing all black and everything. Ya mind?” 

Gabe shook his head. “Call me what you want.”

“Perfect!” The tall man crowed. “And you can call me Rat.” 

Gabriel certainly thought it suited him more than Jamison. “Guess I will then.” 

“Fantastic!” Rat beamed at him. “Now, time’s up. Git outta my store.”

 

Gabe was more than happy to oblige, and slipped quietly from the store, was waved at by the man named Mako, who seemed either perfectly friendly or very intimidating indeed. He wasn’t quite sure which yet. 

Resignedly, and very cautiously indeed he decided to make his way back to the motel, trying to avoid the gazes of anyone who passed him by, which was significantly harder than it looked. He got glances, a lot of them, knew he was all the more conspicuous today. And now, of all days, he had a reason to be worried. 

He got back to the motel, and, after assuring the worried owned that he was, in fact, fine, and that he had not skipped out to avoid the full payment. Then exhaustion overcame him and he fell into bed still fully dressed, and less than a minute later, he was embroiled in a deep and restless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, not pretty but here it is! 
> 
> Gabe is gonna have a hard time getting out of Willsdale, thats for sure...  
> Hope you enjoyed!


	8. The Lion's Den

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel rediscovers his spider problem.

When Gabriel awoke, it was with a feeling of intense disorientation. The sun was already high in the sky, shining through the curtains he had forgotten to close last night. He looked around blearily, blinking at the faded peach-coloured decor of his motel room. It looked nothing like Morrison's basement, which relieved him greatly. Sitting up, he reassured himself even further that he was absolutely not in Morrison's house. The last wisps of his unsettling dream departed quickly from his brain, the shadowy figures receding back into the mists of his subconscious. Groaning loudly, he crawled sluggishly from the bed, biting his lip as his injured arm twinged painfully, throbbing with the still-raw pain of shattered glass. Beside the bed lay his suitcase and backpack, as well as the small amount of supplies he had bought back on Tuesday. 

 

He considered his options while eating own-brand chocolate cereal in fistfuls from the box. How was he to get out of Willsdale? No taxi service, no buses, and Gabe knew he'd be hard-pressed to find someone to hitch-hike with. But, the fact remained that he needed to be out of town and pronto, lest he incur the wrath of Morrison once more. Gabe would certainly have to be careful during the morning and evening, so as not to interrupt his strange patrols. He would have to remain around exclusively urban areas just in general- spectators and different streets would provide a much-needed advantage over Jack, or at least a more level playing field. Anything that could help him to avoid an early demise. His grubby tee-shirt might say not to fear the reaper, but it quite wisely didn't advise against fear of Jack Morrison. 

 

Still, there was something that despite everything, grabbed Gabriel about the man. He was... interesting. Jack Morrison marked the only true unknown Gabe had known in a long while. His near-supernatural agility and spatial awareness alone would have been interesting. Put together with the impossible context that he existed in, the town that life seemed to have forgotten, the strange yet menacing organisation that Gabe could only assume was government affiliated, the genuine pleasantness that Jack had occasionally let slip through. 

Jack Morrison had spared his life. Wary of the man as he was, he could not forget that. Despite everything the man seemed to stand for, despite the loyalty he had flaunted, he had not been able to shoot him, and not for lack of opportunity. 

But anyway, that was beside the point. He would have plenty of time to ponder upon Morrison's actions when he was safely located as far away from him as possible. Brushing a few crumbs of cereal from the front of his almost unwearable tee-shirt, he walked into the bathroom. 

Oh, fuck. He had forgotten about the resident insect kingdom that dominated most of the cramped bathroom. 

He utterly, desperately needed a shower. He was disgustingly filthy, his hair was a mess, and he would just contaminate his clean clothes if he put them on now.

Yet, a shower he took in that... thing... would undoubtedly have a spider to water ratio of about 50/50, and Gabriel could not quite force himself to consider that. It was something which he doubted anyone would choose to do unless their life depended on it, and he had had quite enough of life-or-death scenarios for a long time, thank you very much. Which it could be, if they turned out to be venomous, and Gabriel was very, very tired of life and death scenarios at this point.  
Then he saw one scuttle over his toothbrush and recoiled, slamming the door behind him. The toothbrush was gone. So was the bathroom. He would not be going in there again, no sir, not if you paid him.

He did remember there being a hosepipe located just outside his door though. Did it work? He would just have to find out.

 

\-- - --

 

After Gabriel had successfully doused his still clothed self in freezing water, he wandered back inside, dried himself with his own towel (he did not trust anything that had come out of the bathroom) and changed into another pair of shorts, and a dark grey vest with a white star emblazoned on the front, he finally felt just about ready to face the town again. Making sure he had the essentials on him (wallet, phone, pocketknife- just in case) he steeled himself.

He could do this. He could go out, into town and ask at the diner if there was any other way out. Surely there had to be some people coming and going.

He walked briskly down the main road, trying not to relive any of his previous trips that had taken that route. 

A waving figure on the other side of the road drew his attention. He was wearing a cowboy hat, Gabriel noted, and felt very relieved to see a familiar face that did not belong to a possible sociopath or anyone who had tried to murder him. 

Gabriel crossed over to greet a cheery looking Jesse McCree, who clapped him firmly on the back with the manner of someone greeting a very old friend. 

"Gabe!" He said warmly. "I ain't seen you since Tuesday! People were beginning to think you had gotten lost in the desert or something." He regarded Gabriel closely. "No offence, pardner, but you ain't looking too great. You quite okay?" 

"Oh don't worry about me." Gabe waved away his concerns. "I, uh... Had a close encounter with some dingoes."

"Didn't think they had those in this part o' the world." He frowned. 

"So did I. That's what made it such a surprise." Gabe lied quickly, wondering why of all the reasons he could have chosen it had to be that one. Well, there was no going back now. 

McCree nodded, seemingly convinced. "I'll have to keep a look out for 'em then. You got anywhere to be?" 

Gabe shrugged. "Nothing too pressing." 

"Fantastic!" McCree beamed. "Fancy walkin' along with me then?" 

"Sure." 

McCree started walking, in precisely the opposite direction that Gabe had just come from. Not ideal, but it would be fine, wouldn't it?

"Hey, do you know anyone who might be leaving town soon? I need a ride out of here."

"Well, how'd ya get here?" Jesse looked puzzled.

"I came by bus." 

"That's impossible, we ain't had buses stop here for-"

"Years, Jamison told me. And yet, the bus stopped here on Monday."

McCree paused for a second, considering. "Well, I am leavin' town in about a week, I wouldn't mind an extra passenger. I warn you beforehand though, it ain't the tidiest car you ever rode in."

"You could tell me I had to ride on the roof and I'd be happy enough." Gabe replied, thoroughly relieved to have found a way out of this hell town. "Where are you off to, anyway?"

"Home." Jesse replied shortly. 

"You don't live here?" Gabe asked, surprised. 

"Me? Naw. Grew up here, but I live in the city now." 

Gabe nodded. "I've always leant more towards city living. So much more going on, you know?"

"Too much, sometimes." Jesse gave him a look. "When I first moved out, to go to university, I used to feel so overwhelmed by all the excitement. Got real homesick, an' the like. Used to go out in the middle of the night and just wander until I found a park. Anywhere that felt less crowded."

Gabriel didn't really know what to say to that. He did not want to somehow offend Jesse, even less so now that he was just about the only foreseeable way out of this place. 

They walked along as Jesse hummed a little tune to himself, and Gabe realised they were now passing by the motel, though Jesse showed no sign of stopping. 

"So, where are you headed, Jesse?" He asked, suddenly feeling slightly queasy. 

"Oh, I'm headed up to old Mr Morrison's." He waved an arm vaguely. "He managed to smash a window somehow, and Reuben offered to come board it up, only he's busy this afternoon, so I figured I'd go instead." 

Gabriel went very pale indeed. "You know, I think I might- go. I'm actually quite busy at the moment, and I really doubt your Mr Morrison would want me hanging around." He turned to go, as a hand grabbed his sleeve.

"I thought you said you had nowhere to be?" He said, voice suddenly turning cold. 

Gabriel shrugged. "Not so much place related as it is time constraints. Now, I should really just go..."

Jesse regarded him, his grip on Gabriel's arm firm and unyielding. "There a reason you don't wanna go near Morrison's house?"

Yeah, because he's a trigger happy madman who very nearly ended my life three days ago, Gabriel thought, though he did not voice this opinion. 

"No." He said casually. "No reason. Why?"

"Well, because the rumour’s gone round that you attacked our Mr Morrison in his own home not a few nights ago, and while I hoped that was all petty speculation, ya sure aren't convincing me of your innocence." Jesse said quietly, and Gabe could not quite believe it, but the man who dressed like a cowboy everywhere could be pretty intimidating when he wanted to be. 

It really did make his blood boil, though. Him? Beat up Morrison? That was fucking rich.  
Angrily, he wrenched his arm from Jesse's grip, giving him a filthy glare. 

"Don't make up stupid assumptions!" He hissed. "You don't know the first thing about it."

"Mind extrapolatin' for me?" Jesse returned his gaze with zeal.

Gabe's mind raced. What did he say, what did he say? He had to come up with something fast. 

He sighed. "Me and Morrison- Jack- fought together back in the day." He said, hoping it wasn't too obvious that he was lying through his teeth.

"I bet you got on like a house on fire." Jesse said, and Gabriel couldn't quite tell if he believed him or not. 

"Certainly always caused the same amount of property damage as a blazing inferno." He said flippantly. "That hasn't changed." 

"Hmmm." Jesse said quietly. "Didn't think you recognised him when we last talked."

"Well, he looked very different back in the day. Can you blame me? I hadn't seen him in over a decade." 

Jesse nodded. "He has changed a lot since he got here." 

Gabe nodded. "Sure has. Can't quite believe he's younger than me."

"He's younger than you? Get outta here! That ain't true!" Jesse chuckled, seemingly convinced enough by Gabe's story. 

"He sure is."

"So if you two are old pals, why're you avoidin' him? You two had some sort o' argument?"

"Well, we parted on... difficult terms." Gabe grimaced. "He told me to leave here and never come back, what could I even say to that?" He said, not entirely lying.

Jesse nodded. "I can see why that'd be difficult." He stopped, and with a wave of what was by now only faint horror (Gabe had by now exhausted all his reserves of fear) he realised they were standing right outside Morrison's house.  
"But you know Morrison, he's all bluster. I'm sure if you were to talk to him you two could sort stuff out? It'd be a shame just to leave it all behind you like this." 

"Well, I-" Gabriel said quickly, only to be interrupted by McCree knocking loudly at the door. 

"Mr Morrison? It's Jesse here!" He called loudly into the house. 

The door opened almost immediately, and Jack Morrison stood shakily in front of them. Gabriel must have gotten in some better hits than he remembered, because Morrison looked like utter shit- he had a bust lip, and was quite bruised, not to mention a deep weariness that had crept over his features. The Morrison who stood before him did not look at all up to fighting, physically or mentally, which was reassuring if anything, but also slightly piteous. 

"Jesse? He said slowly. "I thought Reuben..." 

"He was busy, unfortunately." Jesse smiled up at him. "I'm here to board up your window instead, an I figured you an your ole buddy here could do some catchin' up while I was busy." 

"Old... Buddy?" His face immediately hardened. "Who is that, Jesse? What are you-" 

"It's me, Jack."

"Gabriel?" Morrison's eyes widened, indignant. "I thought I told you to get out of here!" 

"He's leavin’ with me next Tuesday, Mr Morrison, soon as he can, but I thought the two of you oughtta set things right between yourselves." 

Bypassing Morrison he wandered easily into the house. "So where d'ya keep the toolkit?" He asked casually. 

"Cupboard under the stairs." Morrison called back. "Door's painted white. You can't miss it."

"Thanks." 

Morrison waited until he was out of earshot, before turning back to Gabe, face thunderous. 

"What the hell did you tell him?" He glared at him scornfully. "And why?" 

"I told him we used to serve together, and that we'd-"

"What the fuck!" Morrison yelled at him, irate. "Why! Why didn't you just leave!" 

"Because Jesse is just about my only way out of this shithole of a town of yours, and I can't exactly get out of here if your damn neighbours do your job for you and lynch me!" Gabriel shouted at him. "What did you expect me to tell him, the truth? Do you think I look fucking stupid?!" 

Jack lunged forward to grab his arm, but Gabriel was having none of it, shoving Jack back over the threshold. 

"Keep your hands off me!" He demanded. 

"Okay then, just get inside before someone sees you here and starts getting ideas, okay?" Jack growled at him. 

"You know, I don't think I will." 

"Listen, I know you don't trust me, but-"

"Oh, and I wonder why that is?" Gabriel gave him a withering look, which was entirely pointless given that Morrison couldn't actually see it, but that was by the by.

"Gabriel, you stay out here and we're both at risk. I won't hurt you, that'd be pointless, so just get in the fucking house and shut up, okay?"

Gabriel glanced around him, and saw for the first time the watchful figures of several interested individuals regarding the situation with unconcealed fascination. Ooh, creepy. Just like everything else in this goddamn cursed place. 

"Fine, but if you try anything funny- and I mean anything- I will fucking destroy you."

Jack looked tiredly out into space. "Warning acknowledged. Now, are you going to come in or what?" 

Gabe took one last look at the various watchers, and then back at Jack. Well, worst came to the worst, he knew where the exits were. He followed Jack into the house, and pulled the door to behind him. 

In front of him, Jack wandered forward, into the first room on the left. Walking over to the sofa, he sat down heavily, hitting his head on the wall and swearing loudly. "Well?" He demanded. "Are you going to sit down or what?"

Gabriel was still hovering in the doorway, looking out over Morrison's front room. It- everything- looked frankly ancient, and very dusty. It looked a bit like a very down-and-out vintage store in a way. When the furniture had been new, no doubt it had been a room to be proud of, but that would have been a very long time ago. Now the wallpaper was faded, the coffee table chipped and one of the legs leaned inwards. Two great bookshelves stood erect, shelves bent and lop-sided, with books crammed vertically and horizontally wherever they would fit. They were an untidy mixture of battered old hardbacks with some well-thumbed and broken-spined paperbacks in a gaudy mismatch of different and often distasteful hues. 

There was a fireplace that looked like it had not been lit for many years, that Gabriel half expected to have been blocked up and was now only decoration. It was adorned with a load of framed photos, the type that had probably come from one of those old disposable cameras that you had to take to a local pharmacy to get developed. The couch that Jack had sprawled himself over looked like it had been purchased after its previous owner's death of old age- it was a shade of pink that Gabriel refused to believe that anyone would choose to have a couch in. Not that that could bother Morrison, evidently. 

Hesitantly, he wandered around the room, coming in turn to the fireplace, and the photos on the mantelpiece. He blew the dust off of one of the photos, and sneezed. 

"Sorry about the dust." Morrison said blandly, as if they were in a perfectly normal scenario, and no chasing with guns had ever occurred between them. "I haven't cleaned in a while."

"Better than the basement." Gabe replied dryly. 

He looked down at the picture in his hand. A man and a woman stared up at him from within it, both conspicuously fair. They were each wearing the old blue uniforms of Overwatch, and looked young, barely into their twenties if Gabe could hazard a guess. The young man looked just slightly familiar, and Gabe wondered where he could have seen him before. Then he was struck by how incredibly stupid he was- it was Morrison. Of course it was Morrison! It was his damn house after all- why wouldn't there be a picture of him?  
The Jack Morrison who stared up at him from the photo was smiling, a ray of faded light, like the kind of happy, attractive person who you saw on advertisements, could be selling you anything from a luxury cruise to a set of trowels. Blonde hair and such deep blue eyes, muscular but not threatening. A link to the perfect, normal life that only existed in people you didn't know well enough to see through, the kind that 50's housewives clung to as if they could solve their crackling cellophane marriages, and put the fear of God into their listless offspring. It was a face that sold happiness, pure and commercial. The young woman next to him was similar, had the same idealised features, but her smile was awkward, camera-shy, letting personality slip through, where Morrison was all charisma, he could just imagine it. A face that could sail a fleet of battleships. A face that held doors open for people and called older ladies "ma'am", that lived near to you but was always caught up in something far more important, prestigious and luxuriant than would ever happen to you in your dreary flat, with your half-hearted, weather worn smile. 

Obviously those things didn't last forever. No matter how marketable he was then, Morrison was a mess now, the kind of person that you decided instinctively had far too much emotional baggage for you to ever approach.  
Perhaps Jack was still attractive if you looked at him the right way, despite the grey hair and receding hairline, or the wrinkles that carved his face's grim history into one of scowls alone. Perhaps a face more akin to Gabe's for he had never been the golden boy. He was too intimidating, not smiley enough or white enough to be approachable, and with two scars running across his face, by the time he had opened his mouth the people had already made their judgement. To them, he was automatically untrustworthy, no doubt part of a gang or something like that, from some corner of reality that they wanted to sweep under the rug. 

Morrison, however, could not see him, which was refreshing in itself. On that, he was lucky. Perhaps if he had been able to make the usual judgements, Gabe would be buried in a little plot round the back of the house by now. Still, he couldn't know that, and that judgement wasn't yet his to make. 

"What are you doing?" Jack scowled. 

"Oh, just thinking." 

"You going to start preaching more of your strange philosophies to me?" 

Gabriel chuckled to himself. "I'm not sure you'd really appreciate it. Would you?" 

Jack shrugged. "Don't know. Still trying to figure out some new words to live by, since you had the indecency to ruin my life." 

Ruin his life? Really? Gabe ruined his fucking life? That was rich. Snarling he turned back to Morrison. "I ruined your life? You almost shot me! Heck, you did, you shot me in the ear! You're the one ruining my life, if anything! What did I even do to ruin your life, eh?"

"You just had to be too damn human!" Jack shouted him down. "I have one job, and that's to take orders, and that's what I've been doing, every single fucking day, for what, thirteen years? And then you had the decency to just stroll in, like an asshole, and ruin everything!" He slammed his hand down on the side-table, making the small collection of unwashed crockery there jostle nervously.  
"You ever think the issue might be with your higher-ups? I never asked you to kidnap me, or keep me in your dingy little basement or feed me the worst goddamn lasagne I've tasted in my life! I didn't just walk up to you and say- you know what'd be fun? You trying to goddamn murder me!" Gabriel growled, shoving the photo back down onto the mantelpiece. 

He stared at Jack- Jack stared in his general direction.  
Gabriel was so done with this shit. He was done with Morrison, done with being angry, and tired, and he really just wasn’t bothered to put up with Jack Morrison’s illogical bullshit.  
Time passed. 

Jack was the first to back down. "Was the lasagne really that bad? It’s the nicest ready meal you can get from the corner shop, you know."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "To what, a kick in the teeth? That stuff was disgusting. How can you even live like this? All alone out here, with next to no friends, subsisting on a diet of meals the quality that wouldn't seem unusual in prisoner of war camp. How do you do it without, like, dying of despair?"

Jack went quiet. "I like to be alone. It's better off that way."

"So do I, Jack, but that doesn't mean I submit myself to this- whatever this is." 

Morrison ignored Gabe's last statement. "You live alone, then? No kids, no wife? Didn't think you sounded like the type." 

Gabe snorted loudly. "You think I'd be wandering around in a place like this on my own if I had a family?" 

"Touché." Jack nodded. "Well, I'd offer you lunch, but I think you might not like anything I could offer."

"If you have anything other than ready meals in, I wouldn't refuse you."

"Well, there's stuff in for food, but I warn you, I may be the world's worst cook."

Well, if you want, I could cook?" Gabriel was hungry enough by now, and on his list of bad ideas, this one definitely ranked lower than going back into Morrison’s house in the first place. Besides, kitchen meant he had easy access to the knives in case Jack were to try anything. 

Jack, meanwhile, looked greatly bemused. "I couldn't say no to that. I think I have some pasta and some tinned tomato in? Could you do something with that?" 

"I'll do my best."

 

\-- - -- 

 

"Is it ready yet?"

"Just give me a minute, Jack, I'm trying to serve it out! Do you have any cheese in, by the way?"

"Not gratable stuff, no. But it'll be okay without it, won't it?" 

"Yeah, it ought to be fine."

There was no colander, so Gabe had to strain the pasta by hand, holding a pan lid over the top of the saucepan as he tilted it over the sink, the translucent starchy liquid sploshing away down the drain. Was that all of it? Just about. 

Morrison seemed keenly interested in the whole process, and was hovering very awkwardly behind Gabriel as he dished out the pasta.  
The sauce was rudimentary at best, and Gabe had never been that great at Italian food, but hey, he could guarantee with 100% accuracy that it wouldn't kill anyone. Probably. 

"Where do you keep cutlery?"

"Oh, I'll get that, don't worry."

While Jack was getting out the cutlery, Gabe stood back to admire his handiwork. It did not look half bad, come to think of it. 

"Dining room's through here." Jack pointed over to the door at the other side of the kitchen. 

"Dining room? How fancy." Gabriel smirked, carrying the two plates of steaming pasta and following him into the next room. 

"Last time I checked, weren't dining rooms fairly standard?"

"Yeah, not if you live in the middle of a city. My flat barely has room to sneeze in. Guess you wouldn't know much about that would you, country boy?" 

"You don't know that." Jack pointed out. "Maybe I lived in a city before I came out here."

"Did you?"

"Well, no." He said defensively. "But you didn't know that."

"I could extrapolate. You sound country, and you sure as hell look it."

Jack motioned for Gabriel to sit down. "I won't argue with that." He agreed, looking uncertainly around him. "Hey, do you mind if I start? I'm famished."

"Sure, go for it." 

Gabe ate a mouthful of his pasta, watching Jack for a reaction. He stabbed at his pasta, attempting to find a decent mouthful. It was lucky the packet had been full of penne and not linguine or something else long and thin, because Jack was having enough trouble with it as it was. Finally he managed to get a decent amount of pasta on his fork without it immediately falling off, and took a bite. 

His reaction was instantaneous. 

"Why the hell aren't you a professional chef, Gabriel?" He demanded between enthusiastic mouthfuls. "This stuff's fantastic!"

Gabriel could almost have blushed. He did not, though. At all. "Flattery will get you anywhere." 

"I'm not kidding! Seriously, can't you just stay here and cook for me forever? That'd be just dandy."

"Don't make this any weirder than it already is, Morrison. Remember I'm just here so your weird neighbours don't burn me at the stake or something."

"Right, right. Fine. Kidnapping is a sore subject."

"You are a crazy bastard, Morrison. Why wouldn't it be? I don't think not wanting to spend eternity as a cooking slave in your weird basement is an unreasonable thing to think." 

"Well, I didn't mean it like that." Jack added, slightly sulkily. "It's not like I'm going to kidnap you again." 

"Good." Gabe grunted, and the conversation diminished as both of them concentrated on lunch. 

"You know, I meant to say," Said Jack, when he had finally finished, "in a way, it's good that you'll be here for the next week. Less chance of you bumping into operatives." 

"Operatives?" Gabe scowled. He didn't like the sound of that. "Why? What are they doing?"  
"Right now, they'll probably be investigating your background, checking that you weren't working for someone. Might be slightly awkward if you were to turn up alive in the middle of it."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Gabe looked up, aghast. "Listen, Jack, if your people hurt my family, I swear to God-"

"They oughtn’t hurt anyone, they're just there to check that you really are who you said you were, before I supposedly killed you. Besides, I thought you said you didn't have a family anyway? What's the issue?" 

"What will they tell my family? About me?" His grip on the fork in his hand had tightened so much that his knuckles had gone white. 

"I don't know. Probably not the truth, if I know the way they operate nearly as well as I think I do. Please tell me that your plan for getting out of there involved them?" Jack looked mildly bored, which he had absolutely no right to do. 

How could he possibly be bored with so much at stake? It brought Gabe back to reality, the reality that in all practicality Jack was his enemy. He'd be a real idiot if he let his guard down again. 

"Well then, if I was, which I wasn't incidentally, what would you suggest I do instead?" Gabriel glared at Morrison, his tone icy. 

Jack shrugged. "Lay low for a while. Avoid contact with family and friends, and do not under any circumstances answer your phone."

"You really think I should stay here and do nothing while the goddamn spooks tell everyone I love that I'm dead? That's your fucking plan?" 

Jack nodded. "All that can safely be done. Though there is something else that I'll need your help with." 

"What?!" Gabriel growled in what was possibly the least friendly as possible. An unfriendly demeanour was nothing if you didn't use it to its full effect. 

"I have to file a full report on your death tomorrow. I might need your help for it." 

"And why the hell would I want to do that?" 

"Because if I don't file it, or if I get a little detail wrong about anything, including your appearance, they could realise something's up, and then, bam. Town's full of my people, who kill you, and probably me too for good measure." 

Gabriel regarded him, puzzled. "Surely you've filled out those kinda forms before, boy scout. What's stopping you now?" 

Jack stood up abruptly, making the table shudder. "You like a drink of something? I warn you, I don't have anything weaker than scotch." 

Gabriel was not usually one for day drinking, but if anything warranted a drink, this sordid conversation was it. 

"Scotch would be fine." He called after Jack as he disappeared into the kitchen. 

There was something amiss. Something Jack had never told the strange, shadowy organisation that he worked for. Could it be- Oh, surely not, it couldn't be something that obvious could it?  
And yet, at the same time, it was blatantly obvious. 

Jack reappeared at the door, holding two little glass tumblers of amber liquid. 

He hovered in front of the table, putting one of the tumblers in what was vaguely Gabriel's general area.

"They don't know that you're blind, do they, Jack?" 

Jack stopped, his grip on the cup in his hand tightening. 

"I'm right, aren't I?" 

Opposite him, Jack sunk back into his chair with a deep sigh. "Perceptive." He said finally. "Though I suppose it was obvious."

"Dare I ask why?" Gabriel grinned. For once he seemed to have the upper hand in the conversation. It wasn't like there was anything he could blackmail Jack with, per se, but the knowledge in itself felt rewarding. 

"Why do you think? I wasn't blind when I came here, Jack. The whole reason I ended up here was because my eyesight got too bad to serve in the capacity I had before."

"And is all this really worth it? Rotting old house, out in the middle of nowhere, for however many years?" 

“Just because it’s not to your tastes doesn’t mean this isn’t my home. The lie is just the price I pay for my own independence.” Jack knocked back the drink with astounding alacrity. “You think I want to end up in some kinda institution? I don’t need some dumb, underpaid nurse watching my every move, treating me like a child just because I can’t see anymore! What would you do, Gabriel? Just lay down and wait to die? I can still do my job, I’m still a damn sight better than any of those yuppies they’re itching to replace me with!”

Jack’s hands found their way over the table to Gabe’s drink. “You want this or what?” 

“You can have it if you want.” 

Morrison scowled. “Thanks.” 

Gabriel didn’t have the heart to remind him that technically he had proven that he couldn’t do the job anymore. He looked utterly wretched, sat there on his own, a lonely man in a house that seemed too big for him.

“You’re really bumming me out here, Morrison. That’s quite the sob story you got there.” He joked, attempting to lighten the mood, which fell as flat as it had been before. 

“Thank you.” Jack replied, his voice strained and sullen. “I guess it’s just about the only thing I’ve got going for me.”

“Oh I dunno, you have a kinda rogueish ‘dark side of Captain America’ kinda vibe to you. I’m sure some guys dig that.”

“They do?” 

“I mean-” Gabe floundered uselessly. “I’m sure some ladies do as well, I just… Uh…” 

Jack smiled, obviously extremely diverted by Gabe’s horrid choice of Freudian slip. “You’re a dreadful flirt, Gabriel, you really are.” 

“Get over yourself, Morrison, you know I didn’t mean it like that. I was just trying to make you feel less pathetic.” Gabriel gave him a filthy glare, which was again, totally pointless, but maybe if Gabe did it with enough intensity, Jack would be able to sense it. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll go back to feeling pathetic soon enough.” He said. Then, he froze. “Hey, do you know if Jesse left? We’ve been here quite a while.” 

“I guess I’ll go check.” Gabe stood up abruptly, backing off into the corridor in search of Jesse. Suddenly he was paranoid. Did Jesse work for the same people as Jack? Had he been listening, did he know?  
Gabriel turned a corner into one of the rooms, one that even more than the front room, was absolutely filled with books. There were bookshelves on all the walls, hell, bookshelves were the walls. Corner to corner, the room was packed with the things! Stacks of books rose up from the floor like stalagmites in a submerged cave, surrounding the various settees, the rocking chair in the corner and the little TV set complete with a VCR player and antiquated tapes. There, right in the middle, sat Jesse McCree. He did not look up when Gabe walked in.  
“Jesse?” Gabriel watched him carefully. This was not the room with the broken window.  
“Aw, Jesus!” Jesse yelped, turning sideways with a jolt to look at him.  
“What are you doing?” Gabe squinted at him. 

"I- uh..." Jesse blushed, looking down. "I guess I got a bit distracted." He held up a rather bashed blue and orange paperback in one hand. "It looked interesting, okay?" 

Gabriel shrugged. "Not my business, I guess." 

"Yeah." He nodded. "Hey, d'you think Morrison would let me borrow this?"

"Why would I know? Ask him yourself." 

"But I don't know if he'd say yes to me or not." 

Gabriel gave him the stern look he usually reserved for berating his nieces and nephews. "That's the point, Jesse. Anyway, I don't think he'd be any more likely to say yes to me than to you." 

Jesse gave him a look that suggested that he didn't believe that at all, but what did he know? Gabe had been lying to him after all. It wasn't like Morrison was fond of him or something sappy like that. 

"Oh, just go and ask him, okay?" He shot McCree a withering look which appeared to have no effect on the man whatsoever. 

He nodded. "Sure will." Pushing himself up from the floor and brushing the dust off oh his ass, he headed off in the direction of the dining room, with Gabriel in tow. 

"Ah, Morrison! He greeted Jack, who barely looked up in response. "I boarded up your window for ya, so it shouldn't be any problem now at all."

"Thanks." Jack replied shortly, in a way that made the atmosphere just a little more awkward than it had to be. 

"Well, I, uh..." Jesse hovered in the doorway, twitching idly with the book he was holding. "I was wondering if I could borrow one of your books."

Jack grunted in response. "Depends. Which one?"

"I, it's called- Proxima." 

"Oh, sure." Jack waved a hand dismissively. "You think you can finish it before you leave?" 

"I'll try, sir, but I'm not sure." 

"Well, keep it then." Jack said, not a hint of emotion in his voice despite his apparently charitable actions. "There's a sequel to it somewhere around, you can take that too. No point having one without the other." 

"Why thank you, Mr Morrison!" Jesse beamed back at him. "Very generous of you."

"No problem." Said Jack. "Take them and go. Tell Reuben I’ll see him tomorrow." 

"Absolutely!" Jesse nodded, and then turned to Gabe. "I'll see you around, I warrant. We can discuss where it is you need to go then." 

Before Gabe could say anything, he had already hurried off back down the corridor, clutching the book to his chest.

Sighing, he turned back around, to watch Jack, whose tumbler appeared to have mystically refilled itself. 

"You really go hard on the day drinking, don't you?" 

"So sue me. I'm taking a day off." 

"I thought you didn't take days off?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow. 

"I'm not in the habit of disobeying direct orders either, but here we are. I don't think you want to be complaining about that."

Gabe nodded. "Fair point." He said, taking a seat at the table once again. "So, where were we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! This one ended up being way longer than I expected.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed! Now Gabe has to spend yet more time with Jack. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	9. Making a friend, faking a death.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel and Jack meet up again, this time voluntarily, to fill out a certain person's death report.

Gabriel was gradually getting more used to Willsdale. It was a batshit crazy place, yes, but there were... better elements as well.   
Gabriel had woken up that morning, quite relieved that he wasn't in any immediate danger from anything but the spiders in the bathroom. They, of course, were still there, no matter how much he tried to convince himself that they weren't, and Gabriel had not yet had a go at identifying what kind of spider they were. After all, if he got it wrong, he might end up living in fear of some supposedly lethal species that was in fact totally harmless. 

Equally, Gabriel wasn't sure why, but whenever he had managed to dedicate some time to mentioning this to Pam, the woman seemed to have disappeared off the surface of the earth His failure to find her once again had let him to consume more diner food at least, which was a plus. He had decided to go just to see if she was there. At least, that was what he had told himself, as he tucked into a plate piled high with blueberry pancakes. 

Briefly enough, he had seen Rat pass by outside, practically hanging off the arm of Mako, as they both took a rather leisurely stroll around the deadbeat town, and just like before, Jesse McCree had been there, as had his cousin, whose constant conversation about finding whatever it was that Morrison visited out in the desert made Gabe feel just slightly unwell. Jesse, thankfully enough had refrained from mentioning Gabriel's supposed connection to the man, sparing him any questions about the matter. 

After he had ironed out the details of their leaving in more certain terms, Gabriel had eventually paid his bill and left, though not without stopping for a friendly chat with the waitress, who had revealed in so many words that she and the other waitress were long-term partners, proving that Gabe had been 100% spot on about her, and also meant that he could probably tick off 'being gay' from the list of things that Willsdale's citizens were likely to shoot him for. That was certainly a relief.

Wandering down the dusty street, he was passed on his right by Jack Morrison, returning from his walk like nothing had ever changed, the same pronounced scowl on his face as always. 

Smirking, he tapped Jack twice on the shoulder as he passed, causing the man to flinch as though he had been electrified, and spin around to face him at what must have been at least half of the speed of light. 

"Right here, Jack." He grinned. 

Jack breathed out heavily. "Sweet Jesus, Gabriel! You scared the life out of me!"

"I guess that's why they call me Reaper." 

"Who calls you that?" Jack regarded him dubiously.

"Uh, Jamison from the gas station, mostly." Gabriel shrugged. 

"Weird kid." Jack commented derisively. "Never quite understood him." 

"Confusion really does seem to be his modus operandi." 

"I guess so." Morrison nodded. "So, Gabriel, got anywhere to be, or could we-"

"Fake my death? Sure, why not." Gabriel said, noting immediately what a weird thing it was to say. And to do, that was definitely some pretty serious shit. But, seeing as they were here, doing that, he could at least have some fun with it.

"So, how do you think I ought to die?" Gabriel asked as they walked along. 

"Well, I was going to try to keep it as accurate to what really happened as possible," Jack offered. "We really can't be taking risks with this. Shit could really hit the fan if we fuck up."

"That's so boring, though." Gabriel complained loudly. "It's my damn death, don't you think we could choose something more interesting?" 

"And you say I'm crazy." Jack reproached him. 

"You are absolutely a crazy bastard!" He replied, light-heartedly. "I'm just an innocent, perfectly sane man who would just like to go out doing something interesting. Nothing wrong with that."

Gabe was not sure, but he thought Morrison might have just rolled his eyes. 

"How's the ear healing up, anyway?" Jack asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, you know, okay. A lot less of it than there was when I arrived in Willsdale but it's healing up well enough, so I guess I can't complain." 

Jack nodded. "How's my face looking?" 

"Well, it resembles a face in many aspects." Gabriel replied, avoiding the part where he had to make comment of Morrison's facial features. Which were not unpleasant, incidentally. Of course, Gabriel did not care for them in the slightest. 

"I mean the bruising." Morrison replied, utterly deadpan. "Do I look like I've been hit by a freight train or not?" 

"Well, no more than usual." 

"Charming." Jack muttered to himself. 

"I do my best." 

"At what? Being an asshole?" 

"Well, the competition in this town is really tough. Try as I might, I just don't think it's possible to surpass you." 

"And he wonders why I kidnapped him." Jack said, sounding every bit like the grouchy 80 year old that he was deep down in his soul. 

"Oh can it, Morrison, I'm the best company you've had in years." Gabriel grinned, elbowing Jack slightly in the side.

"You're the only company I've had in years, Gabriel, and yet you still only barely win. Maybe you should be taking notes from the mice that live behind my skirting board. They're less irritating."

"Perhaps it's my prerogative, Jack. Taking revenge on you no matter how petty."

"Doesn't sound like you?" Jack said idly.

"I don't think you know me well enough to be able to tell for sure." Gabe's mouth curled at the corner into a fleeting smile. 

"Well, I guess." He nodded. "Guess I don't know much of anything about you for sure." 

"I have the upper hand on that front at least."

"You think?" Jack teased him. "How can you know for sure?"

"Oh come on Jack, I've been weaselling information out of you from day one."

"Like?" Morrison cocked his head to the side, listening intently.

"Well..." Gabe said awkwardly. "I know you're a weird, freaky local legend, that you work for a strange and rather sinister organisation that I assume is government affiliated?"

"And?" 

"I know you're a shit cook with no sense of taste who for some bizarre reason would rather live off the most dreadful ready meals ever made than get food from the really nice diner right on your doorstep. That's particularly weird." 

"Too much diner food is bad on the digestion." He said, shrugging. "I'm no agent Cooper, I can't eat pie and donuts three meals a day without doing my insides some serious damage."

"True, but I would put to you that tinned food and ready meals is also quite bad for you, and I know if it were me, I'd choose the diner. I'm sure they have like, sandwiches or something."

"I don't like the atmosphere." Jack admitted.

"What's wrong with the atmosphere?" Gabe frowned at him.

"The noise is very..."

"Disorientating?" 

"Exactly." He nodded. "And people try to talk to me." 

"How very dreadful." Gabe said sarcastically. "People? Talking to you? God forbid. It's not like there's someone talking to you right now..." 

"Well, you're different, aren't you Gabriel?

The statement hung in the air like thunder. He was different, then? How, exactly? 

"I don't know, Jack. Am I?" 

Then Jack nodded. "Well, put it this way, if I don't talk to you, we both die." 

Gabriel's fists clenched. "You really think your employers would kill you for helping me?" 

"I don't think it, I know it. I've seen it happen before."

"And you didn't think to get the hell out of there when you had the chance?" 

"No, it was... it was normal. We had the good of the world to uphold, and if you went off the rails, you paid the price. We all signed up, Gabriel, we knew the risks. I just didn't think it would ever happen to me."

"How come?" 

"Our job was to protect people. That's what I did, and I was good at it. Liked it, even. To be the saviour, the protector of the masses. People got to live normal lives because of you, and knowing that just made me want to do more. Brought me here, in the end." 

Gabriel knew. He could remember it. "That doesn't sound far from what Blackwatch did, Jackie boy. And yet matters of morality are rarely black and white."

Jack scowled. "Don't talk like I don't know it. I'm helping you, aren't I?" 

"Because your neck's on the line." 

"Oh come on Gabriel! Do you really think I'm just doing this for myself?" 

That stopped him in his tracks. What did he really think, about Morrison, about all this? There were still parts of Gabe that wanted to hate him for his petty dedication to such an unworthy cause, or his stubbornness and pride in the face of a truth which told him blatantly that he was in the wrong. But there was also the part of Jack that was friendly, and amusing, and rather irritating, but not in such a bad way. It was that human side that had led him to let Gabriel go, with the knowledge that such an action meant forfeiting his own life. 

He had to give it to him, at least Morrison had nuance. 

Gabriel shook his head. "I don't suppose I do. I, uh, guess I owe you my life, anyway, so that counts for something, doesn't it?" 

Jack grinned. "It won't count for much until we know my people aren't still out to murder you. We should probably get a move on." 

 

\-- - --

 

"You sure do have a lot of books in here, Morrison." 

Jack nodded. "Came with the house, most of them. Guy who lived here before me didn't have any know family, so just about all of his furniture and possessions stayed right where they were. Lucky for me, since I never had to refurbish."

"You planning on carrying on his legacy then, Jack?" 

Jack frowned. "Not funny, Gabriel."

"Oops." Gabriel said unconvincingly, picking up an old and rather dusty volume entitled 'lepidoptera', whatever that meant. "Any of this stuff worth money?" 

"I don't know, I've never really looked any of it up. Don't really want to sell anything."

"Why not? They can't all be interesting, and you have enough not to miss one or two. Could fetch you enough money to replace that window that got smashed." 

"You mean the one that you broke?" Jack said pointedly. 

"Well, I suppose you could put it that way." 

"Eh, it'll be fine how it is. Not like I can really appreciate the view." 

"But you can appreciate the books?" Gabriel added hesitantly.

"Sure. I may not be able to read them anymore, but they're still nice to have around. And they smell nice, and they feel nice, so it's not a total loss.”

Gabriel hummed in agreement. "Nothing smells quite like books."

"Exactly. There are some interesting ones here as well, I think the previous owner was a bit of an eccentric. There are five compendiums of 'chatterbox', the first and third book of Gormenghast, though not the second for some reason, just about every book Bill Bryson has written and a few volumes of Dante."

"Have you read everything in here?" He asked curiously.

"Not all, but most. It's gotten a lot harder over the years, as you can imagine."

"Ah." 

"Anyway, we should get down to business. You have some dying to do."

That sure was a weird statement, huh? Gabriel nodded. "Sure thing. What do I have to do?"

"Well, we do everything digitally these days, so I guess I have to type it up."

Gabe looked around him. "I don't see a computer in here." 

"Me neither." Said Jack, and laughed. "It's not in here, actually. Computer room is upstairs" 

"You have a computer room? Retro." 

"You don't?"

Gabe shook his head. "Nah. Setup's in my living room. No room for it elsewhere." 

"Hey, isn't your job pretty high paid? Why don't you get someplace bigger?" 

"Don't really need to, if I'm honest. It's not like I need to fit another person into my house for more than a few hours at a time, so I manage. Besides, it feels cosy."

Jack nodded. "I can understand that. This place feels awful big most of the time."

Gabe 'hmm'ed in agreement. "It does seem like a big place for just one guy." 

Morrison raised an eyebrow at him. "Who said I live alone?"

"Wait, what?"

"Oh yeah, I have a whole lot of roomies, but none of them pay rent." 

Gabe was very peturbed. What? What? What? Roommates?   
He had not seen anyone in the house. 

Were there really others here? Others like him? 

Oh holy shit.

"Morrison, what the fuck?" 

Jack chuckled. "The mice, Gabriel. A few other things besides, but mainly mice. And spiders, in the upstairs bathroom, so I'd advise you to use the one downstairs."

Gabe scowled at him. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, you old piece of shit." 

"I thought you were the old one?" 

"I'm young at heart, asshole. You are most certainly not." 

"Whatever you say. Computer room's this way." Morrison wandered off, humming an infuriating little tune as he went. Gabriel followed him, wondering whether or not he'd be able to make it through the day without killing Jack out of pure annoyance. 

He followed Jack through the house up a set of stairs that had probably been painted white but was now more of a smeary grey colour, which looked terrible. Upstairs, there was another hallway, with far newer decoration than the rest of the house, with nice-ish wooden lacquer floors and rather oppressively purple walls. It sure was something. 

Jack pushed one of the doors open with what he obviously thought was a charming smile. "After you." 

"Thanks, jackass." Gabe entered the room, which was the same unfortunate purple as the rest of the corridor. 

\-- - --

The setup was something that looked distressingly out of sync with its environment. It looked most definitely military, like something Gabe would have worked on back in the day, except with a refreshable braille display attached to the keyboard. It was already up and running, which was a relief, in that at least they would not have a repeat of the smartphone incident. Gabriel sat himself down in a corresponding armchair, which looked far too decorative to be comfortable, and was pleased to find that it was in fact as successful in the comfortable seating department as it was in the looks department. This was a very nice armchair. 

So, he sat there as Morrison began to question him, just on little things, physical appearance, height, that kind of thing. 

He seemed quite surprised by Gabe's choice of clothing, saying merely that he didn't think that Gabe was 'one of those types', and then they embarked upon a short but heated debate about whether or not that meant Gabe was an emo or not. It definitely did not. After all, black was just a very tasteful colour, which he did not expect anyone who wore patterned shirts like Morrison's to understand, and was versatile as well, which meant anyone could wear it and belong to whatever musically stratified cultural subset they wanted to. Besides, Morrison did not look like the type to understand metal at all, much less progressive metal. He had taken exception to that particular statement, but Gabriel was in the business of metal elitism, and business was decent. 

"Right then." Morrison continued, as they had concluded that particular debate. "Facial features."

"All the normal ones." Gabe replied snarkily. 

Oh, ha ha. Funny." Jack looked deeply unimpressed, which just served to prove Gabe's assertion that he had bad taste in everything right. Even humour. 

"Seriously now," He continued. "Any defining facial features? Something that stands out?" 

"You could put breathtakingly gorgeous down, I think that counts."

"No, and no." Jack glared venomously at the screen. "I said, be serious." 

"What? I'm totally serious." Gabe said, feigning innocence. 

"Somehow I doubt it." Jack said curtly. "Let me just remind you that both our lives ostensibly rely upon this report and its accuracy. I'm going to need you to tell me something true." 

"Oh, fine, whatever. Brown eyes, beard, two scars over my right cheek." 

"Alright, thank you." Morrison said in a sharp tone. "Anything else?" 

"Ruggedly handsome? Could you put that down?"

"I fucking hate you, Gabriel." Jack grimaced, typing so heavily Gabe wouldn't have been surprised if he had broken the keyboard. "Anything else you want to add?" 

"Right, no rugged handsomeness. Soo... What about my charming smile?" 

Jack threw a pen at him, which hit him just above the eye, pointy end first.

"Ow! Sweet mother of fuck, Jack!" 

"That's what happens when you don't answer the questions fucking seriously!" Jack yelled back at him. 

"Jeez, fine, whatever you want, you psycho." Gabe glared at him, for all the good it would do, which was absolutely none. "What's next on the agenda?"

Progress was slow.

\-- - --

"Aaaaand... Sent." Morrison said with recognisable satisfaction. "I guess we can just sit back and relax now." 

"I guess." Gabriel agreed, leaning back into the recesses of the squashy armchair. He was getting quite fond of it, actually. It was a damn nice armchair as they went. The kind you might see in one of those expensive hipster furniture stores, except no doubt in worse condition. And much, much cheaper. 

"Actually Jack, since we've called a truce and all that, would you mind telling me a little more about what's going on here? Like, why you were going to murder me for seeing a big ass rock?"

Jack nodded slowly. "Well, first of all, that rock isn't just a big ass rock, it’s a big ass space rock. From space and all that. Landed just outside of town about 13, 14 years ago. Wreaked total havoc. There were a few casualties, and the destruction it caused, well, you can imagine. So my people stepped in. The rock was emitting this strange energy, see, and we wanted to see if we could harness it. So we, the proverbial we that is, stepped in. I wasn't actually there. But, anyway, it was this huge operation, rebuilding the town just as it was, and then wiping the memories of the townsfolk, so it was like nothing ever happened. Meanwhile, we were preparing to haul the meteorite off to our nearest facility so that we could find a way to use it for power or something like that."

And yet it was still here. Funny. Gabe couldn't help but feel curious. "So why didn't you? What's the catch?

"Well, you see, the meteorite had some different ideas to us about what was going to happen to it, which we found out the hard way. See, anyone who touched the meteorite would find out pretty soon after that it was going to be a lot harder to deal with than we had previously thought."

"And why was that?"

"That would be because the meteorite was absolutely lethal, to anyone who touched it. And I mean absolutely lethal. If you were wearing a hazmat suit the damage held off a bit longer, but it didn't spare you. We never found out what exactly it was, or what it does. Other than cause rapid and uncontrollable cell mutation."

"Like a cancer?" Gabriel asked quietly.

"If you were lucky, yes. Cancerous developments, killed you in a couple of days, give or take. Never longer than a week."

"And the unlucky ones?" 

Jack looked down, suddenly silent. He sat, twiddling with his fingers. Gabriel coughed, in a way that he hoped might bring Jack back out of whatever dreamworld he was sinking into. 

"You ill or something, Gabriel?"

"What? No, I was just. Clearing my throat or something." 

"Good." He looked over at Gabriel, and their eyes met properly for the very first time, as if Jack was staring right into him. Oh, but Jack had pretty eyes. Disconcertingly so, almost. They were the blue of arctic meltwater, icy with flecks of a much darker blue. They looked very much alive, and Gabe found it suddenly rather hard to look away. 

"If the meteorite is so deadly to the touch, then how come you didn't just let me touch it? I'd have died naturally and nobody would've been any the wiser." 

"You saying you think I should've killed you after all? You're a strange man, you know that?" Morrison half smiled at him, but there was little mirth in his eyes.

"I just meant, tactically speaking-"

"I know what you meant." 

Gabriel almost flinched from the change in Morrison's tone, now deadly cold. He felt himself tense up. It reminded him of why he was here to begin with. 

"You know, Rey-es." Jack said, making what was almost a passable attempt to say his surname, "a lot of people back at HQ would agree with you on that. Just letting you touch the meteorite would have been easier, sure. And maybe that's what they would have done, too. But none of them have ever seen what happens to a man who touches the meteorite, and I have. I know you must not think that way about me, but trust me, I was being merciful. I don't know how you would have died, but I assure you, both ways are agony." He paused for a second, taking a deep breath. "And you could've gone the same way as Samson." 

He regarded Morrison tentatively. "Do I want to know about Samson?" 

"No, but you probably should anyway." Jack sighed. "Jillian Samson was the overseer of this whole operation. She wasn't suffering from symptoms like anyone else, so we all figured she was immune to its powers or something. It made her strong, incredibly strong, and we didn't notice it at first. Glasses would smash in her hand, door handles would bend. One time she got really pissed off and kicked a telegraph pole and it just toppled. Nearly took out three of our guys with it. It was utterly insane."

“This is starting to sound like the plot to some low budget superhero film. Meteor woman, or something like that.”

“Nah.” Jack grunted. “It really wasn’t. For a while, after I had just gotten there as part of the security team, everyone was acting like it was a big success. Higher ups thought they had found a way to enhance their soldiers, so they got in some of our best, and paraded them around the meteorite, day after day after day, hoping the same thing would happen. Called it SEP. And it worked. These guys were good before, but suddenly they could run faster, stay awake longer, lift more, everything. And then Samson started acting weird.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“No shit. It got bad real quick. Jill started getting real paranoid, and violent. Wouldn’t let anyone come near her or anything. We tried to quarantine her but she was far too far gone for that. Ran off into the desert, and they started sending us out, first to track her, then after a while orders changed. We had to neutralise her. That didn’t go well either, to say the least. We lost a lot of people like that. Eventually some of us managed to get her and bring her back to base, not dead, but almost. Then the people back at base tried to tranquillise her, just for long enough that they could contain her, and…”   
Morrison took a deep breath. “And she just… melted. Into this thing, this horribly mutating thing, all skin and organs, that just kept growing and decaying, in front of our eyes, more like a goddamn John Carpenter monster than a human. Of course, we had to put her down. The thing ate bullets like a goddamn sponge, and when it- when she- died, there was screaming. Screaming that still sounded like Jill’s voice.” 

Gabriel listened in a stunned silence.

“Of course, that wasn’t the end of it. Soon the rest of the SEP guys started acting weird, and of course, we sure as hell weren’t taking any more chances with them. Whole squad were sent in from HQ to deal with them. Got most of the SEP team. Few of them escaped, wreaked havoc in town, these half-formed things that still had the look of humanity in them. When they were gone we had to wipe the whole town again. That wasn’t ideal, the drugs we used for that were experimental as they were. Definitely not meant for repeat use. Then of course everyone just shipped out again, leaving a decaying prison around the meteorite and me here to take care of it."

"And this was... thirteen years ago now?" Gabriel squinted at him.

"That it was." Morrison nodded. 

"See, I was told you had been here for as long as anyone can remember." Gabriel squinted at him quizzically.

"Sure, I have been. One of the effects of the serum, see. Nobody who was in the town 13 years ago remembers anything from before then, so to them, I've been here forever." 

"Creepy."

Morrison nodded. "Yup. 'S why I don't talk to people too much these days. If I mention something they don't remember it could trigger recall. As it is, I stay away from them, and they forget peacefully."

"Oh, so you do have a reason for being an unsociable git then." Gabriel half-grinned, despite himself. 

"But you don't have one for being a straight up asshole, I see." 

(the only straight Gabe is is a straight up bitch hahaha)

"Excuse me? I'm the victim here, Morrison, I'm telling you." Gabriel shrugged smugly. 

"Riiiiiight, right. Victim, huh."

"You tied me up in your basement! I'm the victim here!" Gabe insisted. 

"And here you are, three days later or so, back in my house of your own accord." Jack argued. "You sure aren't acting like a victim, eh?" He grinned evilly.

That fucker. 

"Tied up. In your basement."

"Hey, for all I know you could be into that! You should be thanking me if anything!" 

"OOOOOOOHHHH MY GOD." Gabriel threw his hands up in the air in disgust. "Oh my god, Jack Morrison, you are dreadful." 

Jack... winked at him? Gabriel decided it must have been a figment of his imagination because he didn't even want to begin to think about what it might suggest. 

"Says the man abusing the hospitality of the poor old disabled man." Jack smirked at him. "You're an absolute reprobate." 

"I made you pasta and this is how you repay me? That's fucking unforgiveable."

"I spared your life, I think you ought to be repaying me." 

"You want me to say thanks? Fine, thank you for not killing me on the many occasions you wanted to or whatever. You aren't getting any more than that." 

Jack grinned to the point where it was almost lewd. Strangely enough, it wasn't nearly as repulsive as he had expected. Almost tolerable, actually.

"That, Mr Rey-es, will do me just fine."

"Didn't I tell you not to call me by my surname if you can't fucking pronounce it? Just call me Gabriel, really, you'll kill my ears otherwise. Even Gabe would be better."

"Aww, I get to call you by your pet name." Morrison leered. "How sweet."

"I'll take that back if you're going to be a little shit about it." 

"Hey, hey, are you trying to insinuate I was mocking your sillly little nickname?" Jack gave him that same infuriating smile that he was so very good at. "Maybe I really do think it's sweet and you're just bullying me."

"I'm not bullying you." Gabriel said, deadpan. "Don't embarrass yourself."

"Oh mercy me, you're such a cruel man, Gabby. Bullying an old man and then denying it? Your mother would be ashamed, I bet."

"Call me Gabby again and I'll knock your teeth out, Morrison, that's a promise." 

"Weren't you just telling me not to use your surname? These are terrible double standards, Gabe."

Gabriel laughed. "You're such a shithead, Jack." 

"Hey, what do you expect? I've been living alone in this shithole for years now, my people skills are getting rusty."

"Only 'getting rusty'? I was sure they had rotted away completely." 

"You're bullying me again, Gabe. Be careful, I might call the police on you, and where would you be then?" 

"I'd take you down with me, for sure. Crazy fucking bastard who locked me in his basement for days on end? I think you'd get a worse sentence than I'll get for bullying you."

Morrison nodded slowly. "Fair point. Guess we gotta keep an eye out for each other or we'll both be going down."

Jack thought about what he had said and snorted. "Guess that'd be easier for you than for me, huh?"

"I wasn't going to point that out." Gabriel said, shifting awkwardly in his armchair. 

"Ech, don't worry about that sort of thing. Comedy equals tragedy plus time and all that. Besides, what else can I do besides laughing about it?"

"You make a good point, I guess." Gabe agreed. "Well, anyway, Morrison, this has been... well, I'd say fun, but that would be weird given how outstandingly morbid today has been, so…" 

"So you have to go. Right. Got it." Morrison extrapolated, and it might just have been the light, but he seemed to look almost crestfallen. "I'll show you to the door then, like the gracious host I am."

Gabe could have laughed at that, but he decided quite wisely not to. "It's all fine, Jack, I know where the door is." 

Jack nodded and sat back in his seat. "Right. Be on your way then, I guess." 

"Yeah." Gabe managed to pull himself from the grasp of the blissfully comfortable armchair and headed toward the door, which lay slightly ajar. He pushed it open. 

"Gabriel." Morrison said before he could leave, drawing Gabe's attention back to him. "Could I... ask you something?"

"Depends what it is." Gabe replied wisely. 

"Right, well." Jack shifted uneasily on his little desk chair. "I know this might seem a little, well, impertinent, but if..."

"If what?" 

"Well, if you aren't doing anything tomorrow, I thought, well..." He paused, looking very embarrassed. "Maybe you might want to pop round some time tomorrow?" 

Gabe couldn't help himself. He started laughing. 

"Hey, it was only an offer. Don't be a dick." Said Morrison cagily, switching back with lightning speed into grumpy old man mode. 

"Hey, I didn't say no, did I?" He snickered. "It's just-"

"What?"

Gabriel tried to put what he was feeling into words, which just came out as a shrug and noncommittal hand wiggle, which was a pretty useless response seeing as Jack couldn't see it anyway. 

"Nothing, really." He snorted. "Guess I'll be seeing you again tomorrow then, Morrison. Be on your best behaviour, or some shit like that." And with that, Gabe sprang lightly down the stairs, and back into the outside world, with a grin plastered on his face that he would never be able to explain coherently to the rest of the world, or if he was honest, even to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was late! I had deadlines! 
> 
> We're starting to get some of that old man romance up in here! Kinda! They're not quite friends yet but we'll get there!
> 
> Thank you for reading! I appreciate it! And thank you to everyone sending me messages about this on tumblr it makes my day to hear from y'all!


	10. The un-date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Gabe spend the morning together. 
> 
> Part Dad, all Dad, all Reaper 76!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mothdad is back with a brand new chapter! Real talk, this was nearly out a month ago, but I've just been so busy, I'm real sorry guys. 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy your 7000 words of angry dad land!

Gabriel woke up earlier than usual that morning. He could just see the sunrise out of the east window, blurred by the rippling clouds which wiped past in shades of orange and yellow and the occasional purplish hue. That morning he didn't even attempt to open the bathroom door, sitting back on a stodgy little armchair that was not nearly as comfy as the one in Jack's house. He wondered despondently if Jack would mind letting him use his bathroom. Then he wondered when exactly the crazy old man had stopped being Morrison and started being Jack. 

 

Well, it was certainly far too early in the morning to be asking such introspective questions, and as such Gabe completely ignored all of those awkward little questions until he was dressed, and had turned his attention back to the most important things in his life which were, at this moment, eating breakfast cereal out of the packet while listening to music. 

 

His phone, which lay sadly neglected on the table, started buzzing. 'Nina', the little front facing display read, and Gabriel's heart sank, for he knew that he could not answer it. The phone buzzed a few times, and then fell silent. Then it started up again. And again. 

 

Grabbing it from the dresser, Gabriel pulled the back casing out of the phone, yanked the battery out before proceeding to fling it across the room. He could not answer it, no matter how desperately he wanted to. He could not go back; he could not pick up the phone and risk putting his baby sister in danger, no matter how much he wanted to hear her voice. 

 

It was not his fault, but he would have to live with it regardless. This meant he had very few allies indeed, and Gabriel had no clue what he would have to do to evade Jack's crazy government pals when he finally got out of town. It was a scary prospect, actually. At least while he was still in Hillsdale he could rely on Jack's presence as a deterrent. He knew how these guys worked; after all, he was technically still one of them. 

 

Gabriel half wondered if it would be a better idea to stay in Hillsdale until this all blew over. Provided the weird people and giant murder rock outside of town didn't get to him first, but perhaps that was just paranoia. After all, the giant murder rock seemed pretty easy to avoid, and the townspeople? Well, so long as he and Jack stuck together, they were unlikely to do anything, or so he hoped. 

 

This was about the time that Gabriel came to the conclusion that he did not want to stay in this cramped, ugly little motel room any longer, and today proved no different. 

 

The town was as quiet and vaguely menacing as always, though Gabe was beginning to suspect that this aura was merely a feature of the town rather than directed at him. Then again, it could have been both, and Gabe was not above a little paranoia to keep him cautious. Funnily enough, though he had been wandering in no particular direction, he seemed have ended up right outside Jack's front door. 

 

He thought for a minute about whether or not knocking at this early hour would be too rude. Then again, did he really care? He was here, just like Jack had asked. If anything, he should value Gabriel's enthusiasm, or at least his lack of enthusiasm to be anywhere else. It was probably complementary. 

 

Gabe knocked loudly on the front door, and wondered if Jack was awake yet. It was possible, he was ex-military after all, and old habits die hard, except maybe if your name was Gabriel Reyes and you valued your lie-ins roughly higher than anything else in your life, including various previous romantic partners. Though the bed in the motel was uncomfortable and quite sandy actually, Gabe could not lie that he would usually have been very tempted. Today was, it seemed, an unusual exception. Perhaps it was something in the air. Perhaps it was also the prospect of near death instead. Who could really say? 

 

The house stood silent, and Gabe thought maybe he had been wrong about Jack's sleeping habits, but soon enough he could hear the thudding of footsteps, and the door swung open to reveal Jack, cheerful enough but still in his pyjamas and with considerable bed-head. 

 

"Tardy as always, I see?" He commented jovially, welcoming Gabe inside.

 

"And here I thought I was early." Gabe smiled. 

 

"That was the joke, Gabe. It's like, 6:30 right now." He chuckled. "There I was worrying you might not turn up, but I see I shouldn't have been worried. You must be more enthusiastic than I thought." 

 

"Actually, I was kind of hoping you'd let me use the shower. The one at the motel is full of spiders."

 

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Afraid of a few little spiders are we? I'll be honest, I never saw you as that type."

 

Gabe frowned. "Hey when I say full of spiders I don't just mean, oh, there are a few spiders, I mean there's a full goddamn spider colony in there! Thousands, Jack, thousands! They even colonised my toothbrush!" 

 

"You mean you haven't brushed your teeth? Gross." 

 

"Yeah, I know, I feel pretty gross. You mind if I borrowed yours?"

 

"No no, go ahead. 'Fraid I've almost run out of toothpaste but I'm sure you'll be able to squeeze some out of the tube if you really try." 

 

Gabe nodded. "That'll be fine. Where is the bathroom?" 

 

"If you head upstairs it's the first door on the left. If you need anything my room's the one at the end of the corridor, but I would ask that you knock first." 

 

"Of course." Gabe agreed. 

 

\-- - --

 

God, it really felt good to take a shower after all this time. Somehow, pouring cold water over yourself from a hose had nothing on taking an actual warm shower in fully clean water. There was even shampoo. Thank fuck.  
The house, for all its shortcomings, did have a very nice bathroom. It was, like everything else, quite retro, tiled in blue and cream which may once have been blue and white, but Gabriel was not judging. Out of courtesy, he decided that it would have to be quite a short shower; after all he didn't want to run out of hot water in the middle of it. And he did not want to cause Jack any trouble. 

 

Boy had that changed, huh? Here he was, taking a shower in the house that he had been abducted in, really not that long ago, worrying about no more than using up the hot water. Well, say what he would about the whole situation, he couldn't deny that this change was for the better. 

 

Rinsing the last of the shampoo out of his hair, Gabe stepped out of the shower, turning the slightly burnished tap off and standing in the steamy room. He wrapped a towel round himself, made blissfully aware of how soft it was. Luxurious. A mighty good towel.  
He opened a window to let the steam out, and wiped down the bathroom mirror with a hand towel. He looked at the mirror and saw himself staring back.  
He looked, actually... better than he had expected? The little colourful plasters were peeling off with the water, but underneath the skin looked semi-healed, no longer raw and crimson. His ear did not hurt nearly as much as it had before either, and what bruises he had were fading. Maybe it was the country air or something like that.

He located the toothbrush. It was a little old and battered, but it would suit his needs just fine. Like Jack had said there was not much toothpaste in the tube, but there was enough still hiding in the recesses of the tube, so Gabe just twisted the end up, managing to squeeze just enough onto the brush. It was not a luxury, but anything could feel like a luxury when you've spent the last week in a shitty desert motel without it.

\-- - --

When he was done in the bathroom, Gabriel took to hanging about outside Jack's room where he presumed Jack was getting dressed. Sure enough, Jack emerged eventually, wearing the most ridiculous, horribly patterned red geometric shirt that Gabe had ever had the misfortune of seeing in his life, combined with a long pair of khaki shorts. 

"Gabe?" He said reticently. "You there?"

"I am, though I'm starting to wonder if I should be."

"What?" 

"That," Gabe said matter-of-factly, "is the most disgusting combination of clothes I have seen in my life."

"Says the man who wears all black." Morrison replied archly. 

"Jokes on you, I'm wearing a green tee-shirt today. And that changes nothing by the way; black is the one colour that is suited to any and every environment." 

"If you say so." Jack didn't look very convinced. "What's wrong with my outfit, anyway?"

"It's mainly the shirt. The shirt is hideous." 

"It's comfy." Jack said immediately, looking a little upset. 

"I don't doubt that, the point is, that thing is going to kill my eyes if I look at it for too long."

Jack gave him a look. 

"Okay, maybe that wasn't the most sensitive thing to say, I apologise. But seriously." 

Jack sighed, and Gabriel felt just slightly guilty. Quite guilty actually, but it was too late to back down now. 

"Fine, come in and choose me a shirt that you find less offensive." He said sullenly. 

Gabe pushed the door into the bedroom open. Jack's room was considerably less dusty than the majority of the rooms. It looked quite cosy with its old, metal framed bed and fading patterned wallpaper. He was not saying that it was tasteful, but that was a prerequisite of anything affiliated with the old bastard. 

Jack sat himself back down on the bed, which was neatly made and looked very inviting as beds went, as Gabe strolled over to what he assumed was the wardrobe. He was right, it was indeed a wardrobe! The whole thing was part of the wall, with only the doors protruding, giving an insight into the cavity between the walls. The back was lined with pink wallpaper even older than the one that the rest of the room had been covered in. That too was ugly as sin, but at least Gabe did not have to look at it for very long. 

The longer Gabe looked at Jack's collection of shirts, the more he wished he had just let him stick with the one he was wearing. A mismatched rainbow of shirts in various sizes stared down at him oppressively. He did not like it one bit. 

"Can you hurry up there, Gabe?" 

"Hey, I'm trying my best! All your shirts are hideous!" 

"So you're just going to stand there and insult me? So sue me, I choose clothes for how comfortable they are. We can't all dress like the washed up singer of a metal band." 

"Can't we?" 

Morrison shrugged. "I mean, I suppose it'd be feasible, but my point is, would it be a good idea?"

"Everyone's a critic." Gabe said, flicking through each shirt in turn, hoping to find one that looked decent at best. Giving up on the main rack, he started rummaging around in the smaller compartments, specifically one that was full of old tee-shirts, which were worn to the point of total decay in some cases, but still held some that looked halfway decent. 

"How about this?" He chucked over a grey tee-shirt with a nondescript logo on, which landed next to Jack's left hand with a gentle 'flump'. 

"Finally." Jack said, and started unbuttoning his shirt. "I'm trusting you on this, so it had better not be something dreadful."

"I can assure you, this is most likely the least hideous item of clothing you have." 

"Times like this, I really wish I could see again, just so I could tell you how ugly whatever you're wearing is, Reyes. I’m sure you’re no better than I am." 

Gabe snorted. "You wouldn't be the only one. My niece always insists that pink and purple would look far better on me than anything I pick out for myself. And Nina always lets her choose what my birthday presents are, so I have a whole collection of pastel coloured tee-shirts at home. I would never wear them otherwise, but she insists. I swear that kid could get away with murder, with the way her mom spoils her. Then again, I may or may not have a hand in that, so I guess I’m getting what’s coming to me. Wish it wasn’t pastel colours though." 

Jack looked greatly amused, though he was trying hard not to show it. "Sounds like a sweet kid." 

"Oh, she's a total terror. I love her though, I really do. Just like her mother when she was a kid." 

"Do you have many sisters?" Jack asked, fumbling with one of the bottom buttons. Gabriel let him deal with that alone. He didn't deserve the ignominy of having Gabriel help him out of his clothes. 

"Oh yeah. Three of them, all younger. There's Cassandra, Sylvia and Nina, Nina's the eldest. Cassie's a Paleobiologist. Way too smart for the likes of me. Sylvia's the most sensible of all of us. Owns a bakery. Her step-kids are sweet, if a bit loud. And Nina- well, she's Nina. She was a professional BMXer for a while. Then she ran a company that sold fake designer handbags. Then she worked in the same bank as me for a while. Had to leave when they found out she was running a Tor relay through the office. Her main hobby as a kid was scaring me half to death, and she was very good at it. Still is, actually. Though I'm starting to think I may have outdone her by faking my own death. I’m sure I won't live that one down for a few years." 

He stood there, staring blankly at the wardrobe door in dismay. He really had done it now. 

Jack patted him lightly on the back. "I'm sorry, Gabe." 

"No, it's fine." Gabe swallowed the lump in his throat. "You were just doing your job."

"That doesn't mean I did right by you." Came the final, inexorable reply.

He was right, of course. Jack was the reason all this was happening, but deep down, Gabe did not have the heart to hate him for it. After all, how many people had he condemned to the same fate back in his Blackwatch days? He may have not been on the front lines, but he had followed orders, and had only broken them when he had reached the point where he could not keep believing that what he was doing was for the greater good. Just like Jack. Just like Jack. 

If their places had been swapped, would he have taken the shot? Would he have killed Jack? 

He did not know. 

Jack's hand still rested on his shoulder. 

"Gabriel-" 

"You don't need to say anything." Gabe whispered, voice cracked. "I understand."

How long they stood like that, Gabriel could not say. He did not know. He was thinking, or for lack of a better word, he was feeling. All the emotions that he had been ignoring washed over him. His legs felt weak, but Jack was steady behind him, and Gabe did not fall. 

A noise rang out, suddenly and shrilly, and Gabe tensed, looking about wildly for the source of the noise, instinctively taking a defensive stance. 

Morrison made a dive for the bed, reaching over and picking up his alarm clock, slamming it back into his bedside table until the noise desisted. 

"Sorry about that. Do you... need a moment?" He asked tentatively. 

"I'm fine." Gabe nodded, glad that Jack could not see him. He had always been shit at masking his emotions.

"Maybe we should go downstairs." Jack suggested, and Gabe was more than willing to oblige. 

He and Jack walked back downstairs to the book room. It looked even more crammed with books than he remembered. 

"If you want, we could watch something?"

"Whatever you want, Jack." 

Jack smiled nervously. "Well, I was kinda hoping I could figure out something that you might want to do. I've done everything there is to do around here a thousand times over, but having company is a pretty novel experience, so whatever it is you feel like, we could do." 

Gabe shook his head. "I'm just about out of ideas."

"Huh." Jack said, stymied. "Well, it's a little early for my morning patrol, but there's no reason that it can't be done earlier, so we could always do that and then try to think about what we're going to do for the rest of today?" 

"That sounds fine to me." Said Gabe, watching with interest as Jack leaned over to his bedside table, opening one of the drawers and pulling out an unpleasantly familiar tranquiliser pistol, which he into the back of his shorts, covering it with the tee shirt as best as he could. 

"Can you see the gun? He asked, nervously readjusting the tee shirt. "I usually just wear shirts, since they do better at concealing it."

That was a good point. 

"I can. Sorry." Gabe apologised, feeling slightly sheepish. "Maybe you should change back.” 

Jack huffed. "Big ol’ fuss over nothing. Can you pass me back my shirt?"

"Sure thing, my bad."

Gabe passed him back the hideous shirt. A pity, the grey tee shirt had actually looked quite nice on him. He watched, as Jack pulled the tee back over his head and abandoned it on the bed in favour of the red geometric nightmare. He noticed with faint surprise how toned Jack was. 

He wasn't going to think about it though. 

Not whatsoever. 

"Ready?"

The sound jolted Gabe out of whatever whirlpool his mind had been descending into. "Oh, uh... Yeah. I'm ready."

"Good." Jack smiled at him, and for a moment Gabe could see a glimpse of that radiantly blonde youth that had dazzled him even behind a dusty photo frame. And then the moment was gone, and he was left gaping at nothing. 

"Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry up, Gabriel." Jack reprimanded him, still with the remnants of that sly smile on his face. He set off down the corridor then at an alarming pace, slowing down a little as he reached the stairs, still clinging tightly to the handrail as Gabe caught up, suddenly reminded of how blistering a pace Jack usually maintained. 

Then they were out of the house, and Jack was humming a cheery tune as he set off down the sandy sidewalk, Gabriel just managing to keep in pace with him. 

"So Jack, how come you're so good at finding this place? It's not exactly a documented landmark."

Jack laughed. "Too right it isn't. When all the scientists and soldiers had cleared off and taken all their paraphernalia with them I used to have so much trouble finding the site. Spent a good few hours here and there wandering aimlessly in the desert. Started counting my steps, in the hopes that it'd make the place easier to find. Sure am glad that I did, my job would be very hard if I could only rely on sight to find my way around."

"Yeah, I'll bet." Gabe agreed. "Makes a lot of sense."

"As opposed to what?" Jack joked. "You heard any of Reuben's theories? He figures I have some kind of second sight nonsense that allows me to see into people's souls or something."

"He did share some of his theories with me." Gabriel agreed. "They do sound far-fetched. But to be honest with you when I got here I wasn't far off believing them. This town does seem like the kind of place to have some kind of secret supernatural happening going on behind closed doors."

"The truth is very rarely the most exciting possibility." Jack commented dryly, as they turned away from the road before they reached the gas station, his ugly, functional sandals kicking up dust as they went. 

"Can't hurt to be imaginative though, can it?" Gabriel responded in kind. "I can hardly blame Reuben for wanting to find something interesting out here. Though I will say, thank fuck he doesn't have a decent attention span, or he'd be in the same damn mess we are."

Jack nodded. "That kid does make me nervous. I've been trying to figure out a way to stop him following me but he just won't quit it."

"You ever think of changing the time you go? It might throw him off a little." 

He shrugged. "Sure it'd throw him off for a while, but he'd just get used to it, and I feel like it'd affect me a whole lot more than him."

Gabriel nodded. It made sense. 

"That makes sense." He said. "But wouldn't he stop going if you did? I don't think anyone could find it if they weren't following you." 

The wind was rising, whistling off the ground as it swirled around the barren plain, twirling sand in tiny spirals, searching around themselves, on patrol. 

"You know I couldn't do that."

The sound was muffled, almost lost in the wind now. 

"But what's the point? You're protecting the meteorite, but from what? You've been doing this for all this time, but the only one who's come along for this whole time is me. The only people likely to stumble upon your weird little operation here are locals, and if you couldn't kill me how the hell are you going to deal with them?"

"I'll deal with it, Gabe." Came the unchanging reply. 

"But-" 

"I said I'll deal with it."

Morrison kept walking, seeming to totally ignore the rising winds that blew sand like a wall, and suddenly Gabe couldn't see anything more than a few feet in front of him. Where was Jack? Which way was he going? What was with the goddamn wind around this place?

"Jack? You there?" He called through the sand, inhaling a good deal of it as he did so. "Jack?!" 

The ground beneath his feet shifted, going from slightly wobbly to not there at all, and he tumbled down the rough gritty slope, an almost sheer drop to the bottom, where he rolled to a halt, his path suddenly obstructed by something, and Gabe prayed that it wouldn't be the electric fence. 

"Would you stop fooling around?" Came an indignant voice from above him. "I have a job to do, you know." 

Gabe stumbled to his feet, whispering something very rude under his breath. "I- was not- fooling around!"

"Well what were you doing then? You're a grown ass man, Gabe; you should not be rolling around in the dirt like that!" 

"I fucking fell, ok?" He glared at Jack. "Asshole." 

"Why'd you want to do that then? You'll get dusty." 

"It was not voluntary, Jack."

"Oh." Said Jack. "Right." He didn't sound altogether convinced. 

"Seriously." Gabe made a rather piteous attempt at brushing all the sand off of himself. It was not altogether successful. He still felt very dusty, and it felt like there might be sand in his ears. 

"Well okay, if you insist. Just make sure to stand away from the fence, okay? You don't want to get too close to the meteorite; I don't know how susceptible you might be to it." 

Gabriel took a few steps back for safety. A lot of steps, actually, but that wasn't important. It was for safety. 

"And you're okay so close to it?"

"Gabe, I've been doing this for a long time now, if it was going to kill me it would've done so already." He said nonchalantly, testing the strength of the locks and making sure that the gate was fully secure. 

"Well, I guess..." He frowned. "Are you sure you'd realise if you started developing symptoms, though?" 

"Gabriel." Jack said, and he didn't even need to look to know the scathing expression he was making. "This is my job. There is not much to it. You being able to turn on a computer is expected in your job. Not dying or turning into a horribly mutated natural hazard is expected in mine. Regardless of what you may think, I'm not totally incompetent at what I do."

"Hey, I never said you were incompetent, did I?" 

"Not explicitly, no." The accusatory 'but you thought so' hung in the air between them like a cloud. An unpleasant, rather sandy cloud at that. 

"You're reading way too far into this." Gabe grumbled to himself. "If I wanted to tell you that you were shit at your job I would've told you outright." 

"Then you do think so, do you?" 

"What? No! Chill the fuck out, man. I was just saying, if I thought you were so bad at this I would've told you. If I didn't think you might shoot me for it, anyway." 

"I thought we were past this! Haven't I already proved that I'm not going to shoot you? You're just holding it against me at this point." Jack turned around, face curled into a snarl. 

"You're the one who got all weird about your job in the first place! I didn't start this! Oh, and God forbid I might bring up the point that you held me at gunpoint! You're just being petty because there's no point in your bizarre-ass job now that you know that your superiors aren't the jumped up heroes you seemed to think they were!"

"Oh, what, and there's a point in your job? You write software for a living! I protect people! I save lives!" He advanced towards Gabe like some overzealous attack dog, but he wasn't backing down. 

"Do you really? Come on Jack, you're little more than a security guard! Your job is to go for walks and occasionally look at a fence! Sure, I'm no soldier anymore, but at least I can admit it!" 

"What are you saying, Reyes? Come on, out with it, I fucking dare you." Jack hissed, and he was very close now, uncomfortably close. 

"I'm saying that I don't understand why you're still doing this! Do you really think that anyone even knows about this place anymore? That anyone would even want this giant death gumball or whatever the fuck it is? This could kill you, Jack, and for what? A military salary and an empty house, out in the middle of nowhere, with nobody to talk to beside the idiot who's still following you around despite the fact that he was locked in your basement one fucking week ago? Surely there has to be more to life than this?"

"What are you, my mother?" Jack glared at him ferociously.

"No, I'm just the guy stupid enough to want to help you." Gabe maintained. "And tell me Jack, when was the last time you even saw your own mother? Or any member of your family for that matter? When was the last time you had a friend, or a relationship, or anything in your life beside this damn job?" 

Jack stared at him mutely. 

"Well," he started finally. "I thought maybe we could be,"

"What?"

"Friends." 

Gabe looked at Jack awkwardly. "That's a little pathetic. There's really nobody else you can think of?" 

Jack looked at Gabe with an expression that was truly, hatefully pathetic. "You're a real dick, you know that? Why the hell did you come around in the first place if that's really how you feel?"

"Hell, Jack, I don't mean that." Gabe sighed. "I'm not good at this kind of thing." 

"Oh no, you seemed like a regular savant to me." Jack said sarcastically. "Besides, it's not like you're so social yourself. You told me yourself that you were a loner. Why is that so different?"

"Because there are still people in my life-" Gabe started. 

"Wow, low blow Gabriel. Can you actually go more than two minutes without saying something incredibly offensive?"

"Hey, I was just making a point! Could you let me finish my damn sentences?" 

"I would but they just keep getting worse." 

"Well, I just meant-" Gabriel paused for a second, thinking. "Well, when I leave here, I'll be going back to people. But you don't leave, ever, and when I go, the single friendship- or whatever you would even call this- that you have would effectively be gone. Wouldn't it?" 

Jack nodded. "That's not your business though."

He sighed. "I guess. Listen, however this seemed, I really didn't intend for it to be like this. I'm not the best at being sensitive- at all. And I admit that. I guess I overstepped the mark here. I'm sorry." 

Jack nodded slowly. "Well, I daresay, I'll get over it, so apology accepted, but if we could just stop talking right about now, that would be ideal."

\-- - --

The walk back was long and painfully quiet. Worst of all, for once Gabriel felt entirely responsible for the situation. He had done this. They had finally reached a point where things had been just about okay between them, and he had messed it up. What had he really expected? Of course Jack would be defensive about his job. What else did he really have? 

He should have thought better of it. What else would he spend the rest of his time in Willsdale doing if he wasn't with Jack? 

But it went deeper than that. Whether or not he wanted to admit it, he genuinely enjoyed Jack's company, and that was not something he could say of many people at all. And in a few days he would be gone, and it was very unlikely that they would meet again. As they reached the pavement, Gabe hurried up to him before they could part ways. 

"Jack." He said, tapping him on the shoulder. 

"I thought we agreed against talking." Said Jack sourly. 

"Yeah, I know. But I thought, well, it'd be bad to finish this morning on such a low note."

"So?" Jack said obtusely. 

"So, I figure I'm probably an unpleasant house guest and I am sorry about that."

Jack almost smiled. Which, on Jack’s face was just a milder frown, but it counted. "I get the feeling that you're quite a high maintenance date."

Gabe chuckled slightly at that. "I think the phrase you're looking for is 'difficult', but you're not far off I guess."

"That's putting it mildly." Jack stated crassly, giving Gabe a rather reproachful look. 

"Well, 'volatile asshole' was the way my last boyfriend put it. And some other things besides that I don't think I can even repeat out in the open."

Jack laughed. "Right, right. And there I was thinking you were just playing it up around me."

"Playing it up? I'm insulted. I've been on my very best behaviour for the last few days, you know."

"I suppose I ought to be glad that I've never seen you at your worst then."

"You had better, Jackie boy. Appreciate my good grace and hope I stay in a good mood." He smirked. "Or you'll be sorry."

Jack smiled. "I'll take your word for it then, I suppose."

They smiled at each other, the awkwardness of the previous conversation dissipating with every passing second. 

"So, anyway, before we got into all the difficult stuff, I was thinking of asking you if you maybe fancied hitting up the diner with me, getting some breakfast? Now that you've mentioned it, it does seem like an awfully long time since I last visited it."

Hadn't Jack said he found the place disorientating? Gabe frowned. He didn't want to put Jack in a situation he felt uncomfortable in. 

"I hate to argue, Jack but I have had breakfast already, so I'd be fine without."

Jack furrowed his eyebrows. "Damn. You don't want to go, then?" 

"Well, I'm not saying I don't want to go, but you really don't have to force yourself out of your comfort zone on my account."

"Well, what a gentleman you are! I had no idea that you were so very considerate, Gabriel. But really, my comfort zone has gotten a whole lot too comfortable of late, so unless you have any other reasons why you don't want to go, then you might as well humour me. And hey if you're not hungry, I'll just buy you a milkshake or something. My treat."

"Well, I don't know about a milkshake right now, but I wouldn't turn down a coffee."

Jack grinned rakishly. "It's a date. Well, I mean, not a- 'date' date but, you get the picture. Don't you?" 

Gabriel fell into an easy smile. "Sure do. Lead the way, Jack."

And so he did. 

The diner was packed, as it always was at this time in the morning. When they walked in the little bell above the door rang, and the eyes of many turned to them, regarding Jack and Gabe with unconcealed interest. 

"Do the people in here always stare, or what?" He asked Jack. 

"Surely you should be telling me." Jack responded. "Are any of the booths free?" 

"Oh, right. Yeah there are a few." Gabe spotted one along to their right that looked decent enough. "There's one off to our right, a few booths down?" 

"Sounds fine." Jack reached down, clasping his hand, and Gabe led them both along to the booth, where they sat down opposite each other. 

Gabriel kept his expression purposefully neutral, because he knew if he didn't he would be grinning like a goofy idiot, and that would be bad for his image. Under no conditions whatsoever did he want to give off the impression that he was enjoying his non-date with Jackie. His non-date, which felt a lot like a date. Exhilaratingly so. The sitting together, the briefly holding hands (that counted even though it had just been to get to the table), and not to mention the fact that Jack had *almost* called it a date. 

Gabe wasn't an idiot. He wasn't going to make this into something it wasn't. He didn't think of Jack in that way. Obviously. But, it still felt good to be doing things like this again. Going on dates; spending time with someone who wasn't either family or a colleague. Sylvie had been telling him, just the other day, that it had been far too long since he had last been in a relationship, and for once he would concede that she was right. 

"Penny for your thoughts?" Jack tapped his hand gently. Gabriel flinched, jolting upward. 

"Oh, uh- dates. Dating." 

Shit. 

"Ooh, Gabe, are you trying to tell me something?" Jack waggled his eyebrows. 

"You're only fooling yourself, Jack. You put me in mind of it earlier."

"Damn, and there I was thinking I was finally getting somewhere with you. Well, out with it, what exactly were you thinking?"

"Oh, you just reminded me of my sister's nagging." He said carefully. "She's always telling me I should be 'putting myself out there'. She has very firm beliefs on the subject."

"I take it you don't agree with her then?" Jack asked mischievously, eyes twinkling. 

"Not in the slightest." Gabe admitted. "To be honest I've always found it very annoying."

"The nagging or the dating?" 

He shrugged. "Bit of both."

It was then that their waitress had the fine timing to arrive at the table. As usual, Lena looked absurdly hyperactive, her hair standing up on end like she was a human lightning conductor, and he was certain it didn't have gel in it. Gabe had brushed past her once and received an unpleasant shock of static electricity. He had the feeling that you could probably stick any number of balloons to her and have them stick there indefinitely. 

"Lovely day, isn't it?" She beamed down at them, arm twitching slightly. 

"Bloody hot." Jack replied, not looking up. 

"Looks like it'll be a real scorcher." Gabe agreed. 

"Doesn't it just? Well, I sure am glad that you two stopped by! It's not often that we see you in here, Mr Morrison! Changed your mind about our food, have you?" 

"It's not the food that I mind, it's this damnable noise." Jack grumbled. 

"Well, short of chucking out all the other customers I don't think I can help you with that. But, I could at least give you both a menu?" 

She looked at Gabe with a smile that was just a tiny bit too wide and shiny. 

"Cheers, Lena." He smiled, hoping that she would get the very strong telepathic rays he was sending her way to tell her that she was overdoing it. Or some shit like that. 

"Right you are!" She said, producing two menus from behind her back. "I'll be back in a few minutes to take your orders, ok?" 

Gabe smiled at her fleetingly as she disappeared away into the crowded confines of the diner. Then, his gaze turned back to Jack. 

"Soo, Jackie. Care to tell me why everyone looks so nervous around you?" 

"Maybe it's the sense of awe that my presence naturally evokes?" 

Gabe raised an eyebrow.

"Eh, I don't know. Did she look nervous? She didn't sound it."

"I think so."

"Well, you can’t blame me for having a hard time telling. Really though, I don't know. I guess you glare at the world long enough, people start to think you're glaring at them." 

"Oh I know your pain, believe me. Number of people who avoid me on the street I can't even tell you. Apparently I have 'resting bitch face', and of course people find you at least three times scarier if you aren’t white, so..." He shrugged. "But I can't fully blame them, if I saw me walking down the street, I'd get out of the way too."

Jack grinned. "Well, your looks haven't scared me off just yet."

Gabriel laughed. "Oooh. Funny."

"I have my moments." Jack held up his menu. "Hey, do you think our waitress realises that I can't read this?" 

"What? Oh, shit, yeah. You want me to read it out for you or something?" 

Jack shrugged. "What did you get last time you came here?" 

"Oh, the forest fruit pancakes." 

"They good?" 

"Very. This place knows its way around a good pancake."

Jack nodded. "Guess I'll have that then. You still just want coffee, right? It's a little hot for it."

Jack unfortunately was right. It was Temperate. Possibly even Too Hot for coffee. There was some maintaining part of Gabriel that maintained that no temperature was too hot for coffee, but the rest of him had to admit, it was hot. Even in here, with the air con at full tilt, Gabe still felt awkwardly sweaty, not to mention dusty. 

"Do they do iced coffee here?" 

Jack rolled his eyes. "You tell me, you're the one who goes here."

"Right." He briefly scoured the menu, subtly still wishing that he hadn't been sensible enough to eat before he went out, as he noted duly the overwhelming range of pancakes on the menu. Ah, cold drinks. Yes, it appeared that there was in fact iced coffee. The quality of it was not specified, but as menus are, they never do, leading to the inevitable intrigue and subsequent disappointment of anyone who orders something off a menu to discover that it had no right to stand with the other perfectly serviceable dishes on offer. But, he had no reason to suspect that that would be the case here. 

"So Gabriel." Jack looked at him over his menu. "Can I ask you something?" 

Gabe shrugged. "Sure. Ask me anything. Just don't expect an answer if it's something too personal."

"Fair enough." He said. "Shouldn't be too personal. I just wanted to ask... why here?" 

"Oh, you want to know why I came here? Well, I mean, I didn't specifically. I just wanted to be somewhere else. Somewhere where I didn't know anybody."

"Any particular reason for that?" 

"Do you ever feel like there's something missing, Jack? That you've wasted your life. Like yeah you're here, you made it to forty, but you haven't done something interesting, haven't been someone in years. And you're sure that you had dreams and aspirations at some point, but you don't know where they've gone, and everybody is too loud, but really they aren't saying anything. You just have to get out for a while, until you've forgotten how mind-numbing it is to be back at home." 

Jack's eyes glinted with the knowledge of just that. He was silent, very silent. There was a sobering look in the way he sat slumped back against the cushioned seat. His whole being seemed so pale, whited out by harsh lighting and the vivid contrast of his own garish shirt, those playfully child-like colours that just seemed to suit him so badly. They looked like they were drowning him, but he could not see it, only feeling the comfortable lull of age-softened fabric.

Maybe that was why Gabe didn't wear colourful clothes. 

"I do feel that, Gabriel." He said quietly. "Maybe not as strongly as you do, but I do feel it. This isn't where I expected to end up at forty either. But, while I can't say this would have been the way I'd have liked to meet you, I am glad we met. You've made life a lot more interesting for me lately."

Gabe chuckled idly. "Good to hear. If anything I should be the one thanking you. You're the most interesting thing that's happened to me in years. I think that's probably a good thing." 

"Well, aren't you just the adrenaline junkie, eh? You know, you should probably just take up a hobby instead of throwing yourself into life-or-death situations. Like chess. Or stamp collecting."

They shared a private, secluded laugh as the hubbub of the diner bubbled around them. 

Gabe looked at Jack earnestly, and was struck with the overwhelming realization that he liked the man. He was strange, and volatile, and not the most polite at times, but there was a lot hidden behind that aging face that was very much likable, actually. He was grumpy and stubborn and... Exciting? 

Yes. He most certainly was. 

 

"Sooo..." Gabe smiled easily. "You think when everything's blown over that we can maybe... do this again?" 

Jack scoffed at that. "Do this again? Never. I'd like to see you again though, so maybe just knock at my door sometime, bring me a gift- doesn't have to be expensive, heck, as long as it's not a lethal weapon I'd be happy with anything. You'd be welcome at my house anytime." 

"Well, if you're in my neck of the woods anytime soon, feel free to pay me a visit."

"I daresay if I turn up in 'your neck of the woods' anytime soon, you should assume that something has gone horribly wrong." Jack said dryly. "But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For the time being, we're both still here, and besides, I think I was meant to be buying you a coffee." He beckoned one of the waitresses over. "Iced or normal?" 

Gabe smiled, in a rare, earnestly happy moment that he would probably remember for years. 

"Iced."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being so patient! I ought to be back with more regularity from now on as my exams are almost over and I am cut adrift, a pseudo-adult drifting on the tides of the world of work.
> 
> Hope you are all okay, and doing fine. As always, thank you for reading! Your support is really invaluable to me.


	11. All good things must come to an end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Gabe's last day in town.

"So, you just about ready to go?"

Gabriel looked down at his suitcase, and then back up at Jesse. "I guess so. When are you planning on heading out?" 

"In about an hour or so, I should think. Still have some stuff to sort up, and I'm gonna need to put some more gas in the tank, so that'll take a while. Enough time to pay yer friend Morrison a little visit, I should think." 

McCree gave him a knowing look. Gabe just smiled. 

"You know, I was thinking the exact same thing." 

Nodding, Jesse looked down at his watch. "Now don't get too caught up in saying your goodbyes else I might have to leave without ya." He said jovially. 

"I'll keep it quick then." Gabe hoisted his suitcase over the side of the truck, and tapped Jesse lightly on the back. "Thanks for this. I owe you big time." 

"No worries!" Jesse called after him, as he set off for the very last time in the direction of Jack's house. 

The walk seemed familiar, mechanical, as if Gabe had done it a thousand times before. It was almost as if he had.  
It would be nice to see Jack one last time. The word 'last' felt out of place there, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this might well be the last time they saw each other. Bittersweet. 

He wondered what he would say. There was so much that just seemed like it couldn't fit into words about what he had felt here. He could go in for a hug- though it seemed like a dangerous move. It might be weird. Gabriel sighed. There was no right way to go about this. He would just have to improvise. He paused on Jack's doorstep. Well, he thought, at least he didn't have anything to lose. 

He reached out to knock on the door, only to find that it was slightly ajar, and swung open with only a light touch. 

That instantly put him on edge. He glanced around him, tentative, to see if anything looked off. Holding in his breath, he stepped over the threshold, treading as lightly and as quietly as he possibly could. He peered into the living room, body filled with tension and dread, the kind that always hits in times like this, when something felt so awfully terribly wrong. It was empty. Gabe didn't know if that was good or bad. He walked down further, past two other empty rooms, to the library. As he approached it, a floorboard creaked below him. 

"Hello?" A voice called out, and Gabriel noted with relief that it was Jack's. 

He stepped round the door, only to come face to face with the stern visage of Jack Morrison. He was holding a gun. 

"Jackie?" He asked, voice hushed. "It's me. Is something wrong?" 

Jack breathed a deep sigh of relief, and lowered his gun. "Gabe, thank God. I thought someone was here to murder me." 

"Well I thought so too! Your front door was open!" Gabe protested. 

"And your first thought was 'oh, someone's here to kill Jack, best make sure they get me too?" Jack replied sarcastically. "Dumb as a brick, you are. No survival instinct whatsoever."

"Hey, I was checking that you were okay! If anything, you should be thanking me!" 

Jack looked at him dubiously. "Why? I don't want to see you dead, Gabe. You should really try harder not to put yourself in these positions. They've gotta be bad for your health."

"You're welcome." Gabe responded, deadpan. "Guess I'll just leave you to die next time." 

Jack smiled, and god, how did he forget how ANNOYING that smile was? 

"Now you're getting it." He said, and pulled Gabriel into a hug, which came as such a shock that he almost jumped out of his skin. He patted Jack uselessly on the back. 

"Guess you'll be leaving now?" Jack said, and Gabe could feel the emotion in his chest, in his breath, tying his insides into knots. He didn't want to go.

"Well, my ride leaves in about an hour so I could, y'know, stay for a while?" 

Pulling away, Jack smiled. "I'd like that." 

Gently, he eased himself down onto a partially dusty sofa that still had imprints in where books had been left. He put down the gun. He picked up a book. 

"Sit with me if you want."

Gabe did as he was told, sinking down into the sofa. What was it that made all the furniture in Jack's house so comfy, exactly? Gabriel was sure he could sleep on this couch better than the motel bed. Maybe he should have asked to. Bit late now though. 

"Sooo, Gabe. Do you like my library?" 

"Well, it is pretty awesome." 

Jack smiled. "Was hoping you'd say something like that. Course, I can't take credit for most of it, nearly all of this stuff came with the house." He edged a hand over, resting it lightly on Gabe's, and Gabriel felt his arm buzz, skin electric. 

"It's still impressive. I think the fact that you decided to keep all these books speaks for itself."

"As opposed to what? Nobody'd want to buy em around here, and what else would I do? Make a big fire in the yard?" 

"Remind me to never compliment you about anything ever." Gabe rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I was just saying- I'd look like a total prat if I had a library room and there weren't any books in it." 

"And that's your only reason for keeping them?" 

"Well, no... I mean, who would get rid of a whole load of old books unless they needed the money? I don't, so I kept them, but it's not like I'm doing the world a great deed by leaving them all here to rot. Even if I do enjoy them."

"If you feel like that, why not open this place up to the public?" Gabe asked him. "You know, let people come in and borrow things, just like you did with Jesse?"

"And let them into my house? Who do you think I am, Gabriel? Some kinda idiot?" 

Gabriel sighed. That part of Jack didn't change no matter what he was to you. "That's your fault for leading me to believe you were some kind of nice, charitable man." 

"Hey I never said anything of the sort, you came to that assumption on your own." Jack teased him. "Nice? Charitable? Me? Not on your life."

"And suddenly I completely understand why you live alone."

Jack elbowed him in the ribs. "Smart words coming from the jackass who still lives alone at the ripe old age of Forty-Nine." 

"The guy who had to kidnap someone in order to experience basic human interaction thinks I'm the one with social issues? Riiiiiiight, that makes sense." He snickered irritatingly.

"Hey, takes one to know one, buddy. I may be a bit of a shut-in, but I have it from a reliable source that you wear all black like some sad emo kid who's still in high school, and that's way sadder than anything I could possibly have done." Morrison was wearing that same shit-eating grin. That one. The one that was marginally more annoying than all the others. God, he was insufferable.

"Your choice of shirts gave me indigestion, Morrison, so don't start shit." 

"Hey, I have an excuse! I’m fucking blind! What's your reasoning, dipshit?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes, part of him hoping that the small spider trundling along the ceiling might drop on his head or something. 

"My reasoning is that black is a fucking good colour, and anyway, it suits me! The colourblind american tourist look is not a look that suits anyone, least of all you." 

"It doesn't? Oh boy, I'm going to have to have a word with my stylist again, aren't I? She'll be so disappointed to find out that you, Gabriel Reyes, a man whose fashion sense is based entirely on whatever merch the metal scene is offering, finds my taste in clothes gaudy."

Gabe lay his head back against the wall, and contemplated the very real possibility of losing an argument about fashion to a blind guy.

"You have a stylist?" 

Jack chuckled. "Well, maybe I made that bit up. But the rest still stands."

"You're a strange, sad man, Jack Morrison."

"First sensible thing you've said all day, Gabe. Took you long enough." 

He moved his hand from under Gabriel's, reaching over to pick something up from one of the many piles of books that filled the room. He traced a finger over the cover, and pulled it closer to his face, opening it in the middle and breathing in. He sighed lovingly, and held it, in an outstretched hand, to Gabriel. 

"I think you might like this one." He said, all traces of his teasing humour gone. "It's one of the older ones. A little damaged but still, it has character." 

Gabe took the book from him, and turned it over in his hand. 

The book was a small, blue sort of thing, approximately the size of a greeting card but thicker. It had a wonderful sort of texture to it, slightly ridged and with a stylized inlay of an owl that resembled the one you would see on Athenian coins rendered on the front in the size of a postage stamp. The bottom left hand side was lumpy, slightly water damaged, and there was gold leaf on the top, but on all other sides the pages were uneven and ridged. On the side it said, in golden bordered capitals 'THE VITA NUOVA AND CANZONIERE OF DANTE ALIGHIERI'. He flipped to a page, bisected by a very faded cloth bookmark that was frayed at the end, and found that the text on the left page read in Latin, where that on the right read in English. Just as Jack did, he held it up to his face and breathed in, letting the musty smell of old book wash over him. 

"Nothing quite like the smell of books." Jack said. "I've heard people say that it's the smell of knowledge or something like that. I don't reckon it's anything so profound, but I do love it. Reminds me of home, even if none of the places I've lived actually smelled like that."

"I think I know what you mean." Gabriel agreed. 

Jack nodded. "You have a lot of books at home? In your apartment?"

"Well, a few. Not as many as you do though. But, I do have records. Lots and lots and lots of records. Cassettes and CDs as well. Place is full of the damn things, but every time I try to get rid of any I get all shitty-sentimental and end up keeping the lot."

"They all metal?" 

"Nah. It's a huge mess of just about every genre known to man. Liberace to Anvil, it's all there. Some of it I collected on my own, but most of it used to be my father's. Dunno how he managed to get his hands on half of it, buying vinyl is expensive, but he did." 

"You kept them all?" 

"Of course." Gabriel said, throat suddenly feeling too dry. "Every single one. I'm a sentimental bastard, that's for sure."

"Were you close with him?" Jack said, and again Gabe felt that firm, cool hand over his own, to comfort him. That was sweet. Really he needn't have bothered, that particular emotional wound was an old one that no longer clouded his mind, but Jack did not know that. 

"We were very close. He was friends with everyone though. One of those miraculous people who just seem to float their way through life without an ill will or unkind word towards anyone. He had a great voice you know, was always singing. Always wanted to be involved in music but being a big public figure was never his style, so he set his heart on being a radio host. Would have been damn good at it too."

Jack squeezed his hand tightly. "You know, you're making me a bit jealous. I could never get my dad figured out. If he had dreams I never understood them. Guess I never will now. I mean, I might, but I don't rate the chances of him being alive after all these years, and I don't really see myself making a jolly old road trip down to Indiana to a place that might not exist anymore."

"You and your dad not in contact then?" Gabriel asked politely. 

"Oh hell no." Jack smiled grimly. "Not for a very long time; since I joined the military."

Gabriel frowned. "That'd make it... How many years? Twenty-something?" 

"Well it really does sound long when you say it out loud. But yeah, I guess so. It's funny, I always told myself that I'd turn up back there someday, see if they had gotten over the whole 'gay' thing, but it just slipped out of my hands somewhere down the line. And it's not like I can make the trip now."

"I'm sure you could go if you really wanted. You know, I could help you, or something." Gabe looked intently at Jack, eager for a response, or anything that might mean that they might see each other again sooner than later. 

"I think I'll pass on that offer if you don't mind, but thanks. Though if you want to come by for any other reason than tracking down my possibly-deceased parents you are welcome."

"Nah-huh, I'm afraid that parent locating is absolutely the only reason I'm coming back to this hellhole." 

Jack pouted. "You couldn't be tempted back by the sound of my melodious voice alone? What about the local landmarks? Have you seen the Elvis rock?" 

"Yes, I have seen the Elvis rock." Gabriel said, barely managing to contain his laughter. 

"Well ain't it just great? Surely that's enough to make you want to come back? There's nothing like it in the world! The whole world, Gabe." He smiled, clearly noticing the snorts of laughter that Gabriel couldn't quite conceal. "Are you laughing at me? I'm quite serious Mr Reyes, that rock is the only one of its kind. Gabe- listen. It's an original. Classic monument. Eighth wonder of the ancient world. Gabriel, why are you laughing at this country's fine heritage? The Elvis rock is not to be joked about you know."  
Gabriel could not help it. He burst out laughing.

Jack frowned slightly, bemused. "Calm down, Gabriel. I’m sure it isn’t that funny." 

"That is the first time you have ever pronounced my surname right, you utter ass!" Gabriel snorted loudly. "And you'd get it right NOW? When I'm half an hour to leaving? You are truly, utterly bizarre, Jack Morrison." 

Jack blushed awkwardly, and then smiled, equally awkwardly. "Thanks, I guess." 

"You're welcome, I guess." Gabe parroted back at him, winding an arm around his shoulders. "So, do you want this book back or should I just put it down somewhere?"

"What? Gabe, that's- it's- it's for you! I mean, did I not make that clear? You know, I gave it to you and then we had all that deep conversation about things, and that's how it was. Right?" 

Gabriel shook his head. "I distinctly missed any bit where you somehow endowed this book to me."

Jack's shoulders sagged. "Oh. Well, I mean that's okay- but do you like it?" 

"I- yes Jack, of course I do." He said, painfully earnestly, their proximity burned into his skin. "It's a very special gift. I don't think I've ever have anyone give me a volume of Dante as a present. And something this old? It's gotta be worth a lot of money doesn't it?" 

"Online prices that I've seen for it were all between $8-30, so not really, but I'm quite fond of it."

"Well, that's good to know- not that I'm going to sell it though." 

"You'd better not." Jack said, a stern warning spread across his features. "It's part of a set, you know."

"Shouldn't you keep it then?" Gabriel frowned. 

"Are you giving it back to me?" Morrison asked exasperatedly. 

"What? No!" 

"Then quit complaining!" He growled. "Besides, if you're so concerned about it being with the set you could always bring it back when you visit." His face fell. "Not that you will, of course."

"What? Oh stop whining Jackie boy, of course I'll come back, you don't have to guilt trip me like this. I came to visit you today didn't I? I'll come back again, I swear."

"You had better." Jack muttered grouchily. "I'm starting to feel like this whole thing was a mistake." 

"This whole thing has been a mistake." Gabriel replied sardonically. "Nothing we've done had been anything other than a mistake."

"True." Jack agreed. "I sure have enjoyed it though." 

A sly smile crept from his lips. 

"See, that I can agree with." Gabe agreed. "Colossal fuck up, most fun I've had in years."

A ray of light fell upon them, shining through a far window, casting Jack Morrison in a new light, and Gabriel could barely see him, eclipsed by sunlight, and suddenly the sensation of fingers running down his cheek. He gazed into faded blue eyes, found them closer and dearer than ever before. This was a moment that he was never going to get again, and he knew it. So did Jack. Time seemed to pass in milliseconds, as Gabriel watched him lean in, knowing that he had to make a decision, that he could indulge in this- thing- that was developing between the two of them, or take the path that the rational side of him told him to take. He had to do it now.

Bang! Went something outside, and Morrison jerked back, and then it was over. 

"Did you leave the door open?" He whispered urgently.

Gabriel nodded, head too numb for anything else.

Slowly, painfully slowly, Jack stood up, and began to walk towards the door. Time still felt like it was half what it should be, and Gabe felt dizzy, like the world was spinning around him.

"Ah," said a voice that Gabe did not recognise. "You must be Morrison." 

"That's correct." Jack said stiffly. "Can I help you?" 

"You know, I think you can." The voice said in a way that might have sounded cheerful in other circumstances. It was clipped, surgical, the perfectly sanitized voice of something unspeakably immoral. 

"You see, some of us back at base were a little, let's say, troubled by your last report. Concerns have been raised over whether or not you are still capable enough for this sort of work. You've been out here for a long time, not to mention unsupervised. You understand where I'm coming from, don't you?" 

"Of course I do." Jack said, and Gabriel prayed to God that his resolve would not give out now, that Jack would not give him away. 

"Alright." The sickening man said in his chipper tone. "First of all, you are going to show me where you disposed of the body. Second, you are going to take a trip with me and my companion outside back to HQ for a routine physical examination. Will you be able to do all that?"

Gabriel listened, tense in the silence. He could feel the snappish retort that was on the tip of Jack's tongue. He heard a sigh from outside. That concession meant that this was even more serious than Gabriel could have guessed. 

"He's buried in the back, along with the others." 

Okay, so that made Gabriel's blood run cold. Was it a bluff? It was at least partially, so Gabriel could only hope.

Footsteps in the hallway. Gabriel slid out of sight just as Jack and his cold companion passed by. As his hands grazed past the table he felt the cold metal of a gun. Jack's gun.

Oh boy, this wasn't good. This was so very not good. Even without this, without the fact that they had been caught unawares, two old soldiers at a natural advantage, one of whom was blind, to know that Jack had left his gun behind essentially spelled doom for the both of them. 

Gabriel wanted to run. Screw Morrison, and screw his shitty underground military ties, Gabriel had done nothing to deserve this, and every part of his conscious mind was screaming at him to go. To go and leave Jack to his fate- he had brought this upon himself after all.

Oh but loyalty was a bitch.

He looked the gun over, trying to figure out if it was loaded. The design made it difficult to tell, and Gabriel cursed his lack of recent experience. He had not fired a gun in a very long time. Well, he supposed there was no time like the present. At least he was well-versed enough to figure out how to turn the safety off.

He stood up, careful not to knock over any of the piles of books that littered the floor, and as a last thought, slid the volume of Dante into one of his shorts pockets. It had been a gift after all. His life might be too short for any others. 

Gun in hand he walked, pausing just inside the door to check his surroundings. Corridor was empty. He made his way to the front door, looking for the companion that the man had mentioned. Just one, thank fuck. And there he stood, back to the wall, obviously keeping an eye on any potential witnesses. That was good- they didn't see Morrison as too much of a threat. And, they wouldn't get the chance to regret that mistake. 

Gabriel raised the gun and shot. It made almost no sound, a light 'phup' as the dart lodged itself deeply into the man's side. It was almost point blank range- Gabe could not have missed if he had tried. The man turned to him, and made a strangled sort of sound before collapsing on the ground, face first. Grabbing one of the man’s arms, Gabriel pulled him into the house, watching with perverse satisfaction as his expensive suit was dragged through the dirt. That was one down. Now the odds were more even. 

Inescapably lodged in his head was the fact that he had not done anything like this in a very long time. He tried to even his breathing as he shoved the man's limp body into the front room and shut the door. There were two of them, and then there was us. Technically speaking, there was now one of them, but between him and Jack they barely made one functioning adult, let alone one highly trained agent. 

Every time the floor creaked underneath him he heard it. As he got closer and closer to the back door he heard it more and more. They were talking. 

"Listen, Morrison. I only need you to tell me where exactly you buried the body. And I need you to tell me quickly, because my patience is running out, and no part of this yard looks like it's been dug up recently."

Gabriel reached the screen door, and peered tensely out into the back yard. There in front of him was the agent, with Jack a few paces away, holding a shovel. 

"What, you think I can't disguise where there's a body buried? Think I'm some kind of rookie? Just gimme a minute alright, I'm thinking. I don't want to disturb the wrong corpse." Jack posited defiantly, but there was something wrong to his demeanour. Gabe could see it, and so could the agent.

In a swift, fluid motion there was a gun in his hands, pointed tightly at Jack. The agent looked down at him with the poised ease of someone who found it very easy to point a gun at someone. 

"Start digging, Morrison." He said in the tone of a parent talking down to a misbehaving child. "You don't want to see me use this."

Jack's shovel made contact with the earth at the very second the screen door banged open. The agent spun round, gun raised, and Gabe fired once, twice, the second dart finding its mark, and burying itself in the man’s neck. His eyes rolled. His body started to go limp beneath him. A shot fired from his gun, passing by Gabriel's hip only a few inches to the right and embedding itself in the wall. 

"Oh sweet Jesus!"

Jack dropped the shovel. "Gabe? What's happening?" 

"Fucker almost shot me! I'm okay though, I'm okay. He's out cold."

"Well look out! There's another one around somewhere." 

"I took care of him- he's taking a little nap in your front room."

"Right, we need to do something about these guys." Jack said, straightening up to his full height. 

"Right." Gabe said, hoisting the agent over his shoulder. "Where should I put him?" 

"Basement's the best place for him."

Gabriel nodded. "I'm on it."

He staggered through the house, limp man dangling from his back, along and along and along until he reached a door that the very sight of sent a little jolt of primordial fear through his body. Under his fingers the door slid open. He stared into the gaping black emptiness beneath, and it felt like the room stared back, glowing in black, glaring, in the cosmic proportions of what cannot be seen. A flicker, and then there was light, and he felt his own ghosting fingers curled around the light switch. Spooky. And the stairs looked so very steep from there.

"Jack!" He called, hoping that he was close enough to hear him. "How did you manage to get me down here?" 

"With difficulty. Think I gave us both a few bruises in the process."

"And why can't we just leave these guys anywhere? Do they have to be in the basement?" Gabe scowled.

"It's the most secure part of the house, Gabe- no windows, no flimsy walls. Be more difficult for them to get out of here." 

"Hey, but we can't exactly tie them up down there? What happens when they wake up?" 

"I'll improvise." 

Gabriel dropped the man to the floor. "Hey, now wait a fucking second. You're not staying here! More people will come, and knowing what they were willing to do to me, I sure as hell don't know what they'd do to you!"

"Hey, I'll deal with it! Look, they obviously don't think I'm a threat or they'd have sent a bigger team, not some inexperienced yuppies."

Gabriel took off down the corridor, toward the disembodied voice of Jack Morrison. 

"What, and they won't think that you're a threat now that two other agents went AWOL trying to bring you in for a physical? They're not gonna send rookies, Jack, they're gonna send in the big guns, and if they find two of their agents locked up in your goddamn basement, that looks incriminating." 

He pushed open a door, the front room opening before him, and there stood Jack, in a far corner, holding one of the pictures from the mantelpiece, which sure didn't look like whatever it was he was meant to be doing. 

"Jack, are you... okay?" He asked, wincing at the haggard face that turned back to look at him. 

"My place is here." He said slowly. "I can't leave, Gabriel. I'm sure that deep down you understand."

"Jack," he breathed through hollow cheeks, "you'll die."

"Yeah. I guess so." He admitted. "But, I might not. They caught me off my guard today. They won't next time."

"Oh, don't pick now to become the fucking optimist." Gabe snarled, marching forward, and snatching the picture out of Jack's hands. 

"Hey!" Jack shoved him away, hands groping in the dark for the photo. "Give that back!"

His hands closed around the edges, and tried to wrench the picture frame away from Gabe's hands, struggling to pull it from his tight grip.

"You know, I don't think I feel like it! I don't think I feel like walking out of here and just leaving you to die, and every minute we spend having petty disagreements is another moment that they could be coming for us!" 

"So give me the damn photo back and go!" Jack yelled, and Gabriel, for just a second, stopped. Why was he doing this? What the hell had Morrison ever done for him, and what would he ever do other than hold Gabriel back? He didn't want to let Jack do this, but at the centre of everything was Jack's heart, and despite what glories it might hold, Gabriel knew it would always want to be cold and alone.  
And all this was pointless. All this snapping and fighting, from his own misguided hope that Jack would have a change of heart, that he might for once let himself live, was entirely pointless. He knew it all too well, because Jack was not the only one.

"Fine." He said. "Goodbye, Jack Morrison."

The picture fell to the ground through his limp hands, and Gabriel heard the sound of glass smashing, but he was already walking away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I hope you enjoyed that!  
> I'll have the next chapter out soon so don't any of y'all worry. We still have a whole lot of story left to go.
> 
> Find me at mothdads.tumblr.com!


	12. Or must they?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe hits the road!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! A quick note to everyone reading, I just changed Gabe and Jack's canon ages to 49 and 45, for no reason really other than I thought it might fit them better.

Gabriel walked from the house as if he was a robot. He would not look back. He could only face forwards, the long tarmac, weeds and occasional tarmac, and the uncertain future. A bleak horizon. He was walking just about as fast as he could without being conspicuous, which was not nearly as fast as he wanted to be going. 

When he got back to the truck, Jesse was still gone. Still talking to relatives and saying the stupid little goodbyes that Gabriel only wished he had said to his family before embarking on this shithole adventure. He had just shot two special agents (albeit not lethally) and was probably going to be hunted down and murdered for it. And Jack-

Well, that didn't matter now. He could only go. 

Frustrated, he kicked at a telegraph pole, and only swore a little when it really goddamn hurt.

Urgently, he tapped his foot on the ground, wondering how long it would take Jesse to be done saying his goodbyes, wondering how long it would take Morrison's folk to realise their agents were down, and how long it would be until they were crawling over this town, picking it dry. Could he ever get far enough away to lose them? They sounded powerful, way too powerful. Just thinking about it was making him tense. 

AND he was thirsty. Today was so totally out to get him. He considered his options, and almost immediately decided that he would much rather be doing anything else than standing here. The local store was further away from the gas station, but it was away from prying eyes, and the likelihood that anyone would try to talk to him was severely lower, which was good because Gabriel was definitely not in the mood for a goddamn chit-chat.

He looked around just to be sure that McCree wasn't already on the way back, decided that he probably wouldn't get left behind, and wandered once more down the forsaken streets of what must have been the strangest town in the US. He walked down early streets, and did not notice anything of them, not the residents who could not see him without whispering something to their friends, nor a stray cat watching from a wall, nor the fronts of houses that all looked a little bit the same. They were at that moment, the background characters in the book which read his life, despite all having lives of their own, quirks of their own, or something that would probably differentiate them in his mind, if only Gabriel could spare them a thought, but he could not. Every step that he trod marked a word, a sentence closer to the end, and he would not spend that time looking at things that did not matter to him.   
If the book was ending, what was written on it? What in his godforsaken, dull life would excite an audience? How many people had done the same things that he had, living a life in the moment that felt like it was full and that there was no more he could pack into it, but felt so empty when you looked back on it. That drive to find something there, to go away and explore, and find something that would recommend him to remembrance with these stupid little day-trips into the unknown. He had not led a traditional life in the current sense, of finding a wife and having kids and spending money on golf clubs and watches that would never love you back. But separation was traditional in a different sort of way. Not traditional, endemic. Natural. For those who had failed Survival Of The Most Likely To Fall In Love At Sixteen. The handsome ones with lovely smiles, and gooey blue eyes, who did not think too much about their life, who fell in love easily and would fall out of it at fifty, have a brief period of existentialism, and then skulk back to their wives, razor-sharp forgiveness dripping off her tongue as she made the same dinner that nobody would appreciate for the thousandth time. 

He had always chosen to have a different life, and maybe he hadn't had much of a choice about it, but he had some choice.   
He did not regret the things he had done. If they felt right at the time, then they did, and that was just it. But to come out at the end of that tunnel and feel so very wrong inside? It almost made him wonder if he would have been happier like that, settled down, the way people liked to think was normal.   
But then he was confronted with the name of a man who had that easy, annoying smile and those gooey blue eyes, and if life was like a book he would have ended up living that chewy easy life, but instead had found so very little, that even the sweet embrace of denial could not filter out that sadness completely. 

Then maybe the problem was something different entirely. Maybe they were just the kind of people who had to become grumpy, empty old men. Perhaps the bar was set too low, or maybe they had just never seen that, just as they didn't see the opportunities that might have changed their lives for the better. 

Or maybe, just maybe, none of it meant anything at all.By the time that he had reached that stunning conclusion, he was already in the store. It was cold, as stores always were, and there were a great deal of cold beverages available. He looked each of them over, water, water, fanta, milkshake, drinks drinks drinks drinks by the dozen, generic, labelled, manufactured by people who arent paid enough. What he bought did not matter in the slightest. It would not do anything ground breaking or magical. It would not make a very interesting plot point in a novel. So let's say he bought a bottled frappucino, plus a few bottles of water, and paid for them. He drank his ice-cold frappucino way quicker than he should, and felt slightly disappointed when it was over. 

So as he walked back he hummed to himself a little tune that he did not remember the words to, and it kept him walking, past the lonely street cat, and the straggling groups of people with nothing better to do, and past Jack Morrison's house. And then, past the van that said 'Big Hal's construction depot' that Jack Morrison was busy loading a crate into the back of. 

A Crate? 

Crate? 

... Jack? 

"Jack!" He cried joyfully almost dropping his bag of bottled water. "What the hell are you doing?" 

Jack waved a hand, not turning around. 

"Putting a crate into this van."

"What? Why?" 

"One of the agents had the key in his pocket."

"And?" He asked helplessly, as Jack reached down and picked up a small red suitcase that was only partially zipped up and threw it into the van. 

"And, we're getting out of here." He said exactly. "Well come on, get your suitcase! We don't have all day!"

"Y- wh-" Gabriel struggled to find the words. "Okay!" 

He practically ran back to the place where Jesse's truck was parked, grabbing his suitcase and backpack and swinging them out over the top, almost hitting a rather confused McCree in the process. 

"What are you-" 

"There's been a change of plan!" He said loudly, and tried a smile to go with it. "I've got to go, thanks for offering to take me, it's been good knowing you. And, if anyone asks, you never knew me. Good luck!" He said and bolted, running down the street laden with baggage, which he threw into the back of the van. 

"Well okay then!" McCree shouted after him. Turning, he waved goodbye to the strange, undeniably friendly cowboy. It would be something to tell the grandkids, if he ever had any. Then, he turned back. 

"Drive." He said. "Wait, actually, I'll drive." He threw himself into the driver’s seat of the car, and turned the key in the ignition. At about the same moment, Jack fired a gun into the radio. 

"The sound system in these is always bugged." He said before Gabriel could even react properly. "We're less likely to be followed. No music though."

Gabriel groaned. This was going to make the entire trip feel at least three times as long. 

"I forgot to check, you can drive, right?"

"Haven't for a while, but I can do it." He said, removing the handbrake, putting it into gear, only having a very brief crisis of consciousness. And then, they were off, passing by the dusty buildings and strange people of Willsdale. 

"We're leaving..." Jack breathed, the reality of the situation finally sinking in. "This is it." 

"You'll be okay." 

Jack's eyebrows furrowed. "You think?"

"Well, sure. It's a big change- probably bigger than I can imagine, but I think in some ways, you might enjoy it." 

"What, you think life on the run is gonna do me good?" He said sarcastically, tapping his nails on the dashboard. 

"Well... Maybe. I mean, all of this is really terrifying and I really wish that I was back at home, going to my shitty job, leading my normal life, seeing my family, stuff like that. But in a way, doing all this crazy terrible shit feels exhilarating."

"You have a point. You know, when I first noticed you following me in the desert, it was like my brain did a flip. Changed everything. I should have known then that it'd be the beginning of the end. But of all the people I could be fleeing for my life with, I'm glad it's you."

That one tugged at the heartstrings. 

"Awww, Jackie! You big sap, you!" 

Jack groaned. "This is what I get for being sincere? Really?" 

"What, do you want me to pull over so we can have a big tearful hug and cry it out? I don't think so."

Gabriel saw him roll his eyes in the rear view mirror. 

"Asshole." He muttered. 

"You know it!" Gabe agreed. "Get used to me Morrison, you're going to be seeing a lot of me."

"Maybe that medical examination wouldn't have been so bad. Beats listening to some twit who owes me his life mock my feelings."

"Right, like they would have taken you in peacefully when they realised you had let me go free. Don't forget, I took those guys out for you! Spared your sorry life! We're even now, Jack. And you aren't going anywhere without me, so get used to it."

Whispering something under his breath that was almost certainly rude, Jack leaned back into his seat and turned his head to the road, which Gabriel took as his cue to stop talking. 

It suited him just fine. He concentrated on the road. Horizon, and nothing but for as far as the eye could see. The curvature of the earth was just about visible, and that was the only thing to look at. Left and right, there was nothing but emptiness, as far as the eye could see and a great deal further. He had only a vague inkling of where he was going, guided only by vague memories and the position of the sun in the sky. 

They drove for hours, the sun beating down relentlessly upon the van, with precious few landmarks to make the journey interesting. Gabe missed the Elvis rock. He also wished that Jack had not managed to wreck the air conditioning when he was shooting the radio. Though the windows were open, the air outside was too arid to really make a difference to the temperature inside, and it was messing with Gabe's hair, which had been messy to begin with. Now it had reached the very definite point of being 'too messy'. 

"We're not going fast enough." Jack complained loudly. 

They were definitely going fast enough. 

"We're not going over the speed limit, Jack." He warned, tiredly. 

"There's nobody around, Gabe. Who's gonna give you a speed ticket, a cactus?" 

"That's what you think. I go above the speed limit, suddenly there's a police car on my ass, next thing you know I'm being arrested by some backwater white cop who doesn’t believe the civil rights movement ever existed.”

"I'll tell them you're my carer. If that happens, which it won't."

"Would this be before or after they decide I've kidnapped you and stolen this van, and I get shot thirty times in the chest?" 

"It won't happen! You'd see a car from ten miles off, Gabe. Nothing comes through here! People don't visit Willsdale! Besides, I think you're being a bit paranoid."

Gabe scoffed. "It's not paranoia if you're a 6 foot tall, mean looking Latino. Do you know how many weird looks I get walking to work? That's in a progressive City. There's a reason I don't visit the country often."

"So you're afraid of being racially profiled?" 

"I'd be less scared of it if we hadn't stolen this van and left the owners of it unconscious in your house."

"Alright, alright! I get it! But couldn't you go a bit faster? Just for a while?" 

Gabe sighed. "You are just relentless. Fine, but only for a few minutes."

He put his foot down on the accelerator, and the van roared into action, smoothly moving into a speed that no van should be able to go at so easily. 

"Do these have some kind of special engine?" He asked Jack over the roar of wind in his ears. 

"Sure do!" Jack grinned, leaning his head closer to the window, the wind blowing his hair about at an insane rate. 

"Stay safe." Gabe said but Jack was not listening.   
His head was leant against the edge of the window, his mouth wide open in a carefree smile, an expression that looked quite auspicious on his face, unusual and very strange. Perhaps it was also quite striking. Gabriel might well have thought that. 

He was going to inhale an insect like that. What an idiot. He kept his eyes on the road, glancing back at Jack every once in a while in the mirror, listening to him whoop like a kid going on holiday, like a young Jack Morrison must have done before him.

But he kept his eyes on the road. He was a responsible driver, and this was not going to be an exception, even if they were over the speed limit. That was one moral value that he was unable to sacrifice for a life on the run. 

Gradually, he slowed the van back down to a more reasonable speed, and Jack ducked his head back in through the window. 

"Forgot how much fun road trips were." He grinned broadly. 

"Fun isn't quite how I'd put it. How many bugs did you swallow doing that?" 

"No bugs, but my mouth does feel quite gritty now."

"Dumbass." Gabe smirked. 

"If you see a service station or something, can we stop? I need a drink of something."

"I bought some water, if you want some. It's in the back."

"Right." Jack said slowly. "Think we could stop for a second?" 

"Can't you reach it from here?" 

"I don't think so. I don't know where it is."

"Fine." Gabriel stopped the van on the side of the road. "You want anything else while we're at it?" 

"Not unless you want to borrow my sunglasses."

"That might be helpful, actually. Where'd you put them?" 

"I'll get them myself, don't worry." Jack jumped from the van, and was over in a heartbeat. He was very sprightly, all things considered. 

Gabriel picked up Jack's suitcase, a big, red thing with one wheel missing. It was also very dusty. He passed it down to Jack who began rifling through its contents, depositing various dreadful shirts and pairs of khaki shorts on the ground. He located the sunglasses, tucked them neatly into a pocket, and dumped the remaining contents back into the suitcase. If they were clean before they were not now, though Jack didn't look like he cared much. 

Meanwhile, Gabriel rooted around in the back of the van for wherever the water had ended up. Ah- there, tucked into a corner of the utterly empty, clean van, wedged unceremoniously under his own backpack. He grabbed the bag, and at the same time, was struck with an idea. A great idea. So he picked up the backpack at the same time, and hurried back out of the van, slamming the door shut behind him, and hurrying back over to the front of the car, where Jack was already waiting. 

"Sunglasses?" He offered. 

"Thanks." Gabriel took the sunglasses; put them on awkwardly with one hand. They had a strong aura of middle-class cycling enthusiast to them. They had those grey plastic frames that you always saw on that type of sunglasses. One arm was a lot looser than the other, but apart from that they were in very good shape, and they shielded his eyes from the harsh glow. 

"Oh, I got your water." He handed Jack the plastic bag, which Jack accepted eagerly. 

"Ta." Jack said, pulling out one of the bottles, drinking from it thirstily. It would be a hugely self-indulgent thing to watch, Gabriel remarked in his mind. To just sit there and watch the way that Jack Morrison tilted his head back, or the way that his throat moved as he drank, or just the way the sun lit up his skin, vibrant and yet gentle, even from behind tinted sunglasses. It took Gabe by surprise, and he wondered how he of all people had managed to develop feelings for this stupid man. 

And, as all moments have to end, he drew himself away. 

"Hey, I had an idea." He said, plonking his backpack down on the dashboard in what was ostensibly as much of an attempt to distract him from Jack as it was anything else.

"Will I like this idea?" Jack asked suspiciously. 

"Who do you think I am, you? Why would I know that?" Gabriel reasoned, grasping at arm’s length for the surprise, and hoping that he had actually remembered to pack it.   
Thankfully, he had. He retrieved his hand from the bag, and held in it a small, generic mp3 player and a small portable speaker. 

"Music." He said. "You can't have a road trip without music."

"I don't much care for your taste in music, Gabe." Jack said placidly. 

"Oh, how devastating." Gabriel said sarcastically. "Good thing I don't want your approval." 

"My car, my rules."

"I'm driving, and we stole it." Gabe countered. 

"I stole it." 

"Yeah yeah, and I'm going along with it, aren't I?" 

"Not the same." Jack insisted.

"Tell you what, you can hold the mp3 player, and if you don't like a certain song, you can skip it. That sound ok?"

"Yeah, fine." Jack relented.

"Good, because another 50 miles of empty road with no distractions is gonna kill me." Gabe said, turning on the tiny speaker and plugging in the cable. 

"Right." He said, and passed the speaker etc. to Jack. "It's on shuffle. Middle button is pla-"

"Hey, I got it. You think I'm some kinda idiot?" He glared. 

"I just assumed, since all our trouble with your phone-" 

"Well, don't." Jack said, and Gabe suspected he had touched on a nerve. 

"Sorry Jack, didn't mean to offend you." 

Jack just grunted in response, and Gabriel had to assume that that was all the response he was getting.

"Right." Gabe said, and they set off again, a tiny dot against a sky that was now slightly red-tinted. 

 

Jack pressed play on a slipknot song, and immediately pressed pause again. He then skipped through at least four songs which Gabe would quite like to actually listen to.

Gabriel wondered if there would actually be any songs that could face Jack's scrutiny, or of he'd have to sit here, listening to the first ten seconds of song after song as they drove towards wherever it was that this road actually led.

Then the intro to the next song started playing, and Gabriel recognised it distinctly. 

"Please skip this." He said, as the song exploded into peppy Dance Pop.

"You know? I like the sound of this one!" Jack grinned, as the sound of Boy Problems by Carly Rae Jepsen filled the car.

 

Gabe groaned. 

"So, Gabe, this is an... interesting song." Jack waggled his eyebrows mischievously. 

"It isn't mine." Gabe insisted, which was partially true.

"Oh, there's no need for shame, Gabe! It's okay if you secretly love pop songs about- what was it- boy trouble?"

"Thanks." Gabriel said, with an air of intense insincerity.

"Soooooo. You having boy trouble?"

"Yeah, I'm having trouble with this one asshole who is definitely the world's worst person to have with you on a road trip."

"Oh really?" Jack hadn't stopped grinning for a second. 

"Yeah, and he insists that I have some secret passion for pop music." 

"He sounds compassionate and insightful."

Gabe snorted. "Does he really?"

"Oh yes. And you know, I'm a fantastic judge of people. Good enough to tell when someone is lying about the song on THEIR mp3 player that is CLEARLY theirs."

"Yeah, fine, I own the album. But it was a gift." 

"Who from? Your boy trouble for realsies?"

Gabe laughed. "Did you seriously just say that?"

"Sure, I'm getting into the spirit of things! It's just you and me and- whoever this singer is."

"Carly Rae Jepsen."

"Sounds like a country singer. But yeah, I figure this could be time when all two- three of us, with Carly, get together and braid each other’s hair and talk about BOYS. Right?" 

"You are a very weird man, Jack Morrison." 

"I'm not denying that. But enough about me, fascinating as I must be. Who bought you this lovely gift?" 

Gabe rolled his eyes. How very Jack. "If you must know, it was my niece."

"The same one who gets you all those pink tee-shirts?" 

"No actually, the other one." 

"Oh? Another niece?"

Gabe nodded. "Yeah, Sylvie's husband's daughter. She keeps giving me albums that she likes, so that I can listen to them, and add them to the collection and all that." 

"Do you actually listen to them?" 

"Of course! I couldn't not!" Gabe yelled, indignant. "She gave them to ME, Jack! Sharing things is scary for teenagers! She's trusting me with music that she likes, so of course I'll listen to it! I mean, it's not my sort of thing, but we can talk about it, and that means we're bonding, Jack! That's uncle duty, and I take uncle duty VERY SERIOUSLY."

"Right, right, no need to yell."

"Sorry."

"Being an uncle is fun, then?" Jack smiled wanly.

"Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's a lot of babysitting while your sister gets drunk downtown, cooking, cleaning, buying ostentatious gifts that you can barely afford to show up your brother in law, getting vomited on after Christmas dinner, that sort of thing, but it's also pretty great. Like, they aren't your kids, but they almost are, and you get to watch them grow up. And kids are great. Dreadful animals, but also good friends, even if you have nothing in common with them but family."

"Huh. You're a real family man aren't ya Gabe?" 

Gabriel nodded, and tried not to feel too emotional.

"If you mind me asking," Jack said hesitantly, "why did you leave?"

 

"Because sometimes things you love start to feel like chores, and you have to spend time without them to remember what they really mean to you." Gabe said simply.

"Oh." Jack said, and he looked emotional too. 

"Ah, but I've made this all way too personal. You wanna hear about Sylvia's wedding?" 

Jack looked doubtful. "Why? was it interesting?"

"Was it ever! Right, so of my sisters, Sylvie was the first one to actually get married, because Cassie loves her lizards more than any loving person, and Nina really hates Everett's parents, so she decided to have her kid out of wedlock just to piss them off. So I had to walk Sylvia down the aisle, and y'know, 'give her away' or whatever that bullshit is. Plus, me and her man Kyle, we never really saw eye to eye. So, I was like, super nervous, and when I get nervous I just end up looking super angry. So there I was, nervous as hell, looking like I was invoking the wrath of a vengeful god upon anyone who looked at me for too long." 

"Understandably." Jack added. 

"Right? So, anyway, we're all standing around before the ceremony, and Sylvia, good step-mom she is, introduces the kids to me. They're really young, neither of them was older than seven, and Molly, she takes one look at me and bursts into tears. Absolute floods, very loud and everyone is looking, and Sylvie has to take her away to calm down, and all the while, Luke- that's the other one- is just glaring at me, like, intensely, and I don't want to step in like I'm his dad because that's not my place, so I ignore him and then he gets herded away and put into place for the ceremony. So, it happens, I walk her down the aisle, nobody trips, it's all going A- Okay. They start the ceremony, say all that stuff, and the kids are both ring bearers because they both wanted to do it and you can't pick favourites with kids. So while this is going on, Molly is still sniffling a bit, and I look over at her, and I smile, and she just starts crying again!" 

Jack grimaced. "That sounds rough."

"Yeah, it was terrible. And the priest just ignores it, and goes on to ask for any lawful impediment, and sure as anything, Luke yells, really loudly 'I object!' and everyone starts whispering, and the priest asks him why, and he says 'I don't want the scary man to be my grandpa!' and I'm thinking- what? Who? And then I realise- he means ME." 

"Oh boy." 

"It felt like the absolute worst time of my life, I can tell you. Like, everything's happening, and suddenly, Kyle accuses me of trying to scare his kids, like I was trying to spoil his wedding! And I said I didn't give two shits about him but I wasn't here to ruin my little sister's wedding! Which didn't go down too well, and Kyle's brother Marco comes over to try to diffuse the situation, but he just gives us all this really bleak rant about meaninglessness, and I think Hegel? Which made Luke cry as well! It was dreadful!"

"So what happened?" Jack asked, listening intently.

"Well, eventually the conversation turns to sexual politics, it all gets a bit too crazy, and so Sylvie had to ask me to stand outside for the rest of the ceremony, and I only cried a little bit. When we got to the reception, Kyle did apologise to me, which was something, and I gave the *speech of a lifetime* and things were almost back to normal, until Marco gave his speech, which was very confusing and mentioned Aristotle like, three times. I think he was already drunk, somehow, but by the time I realised it turned into a coming out speech, which nobody was expecting at all. I don't remember most of the rest of the evening, which is really a blessing, because I think I may have danced. I do remember me and Marco got very drunk and spent most of the night making out in the parking lot, and every time I ask Sylvie why they don't spend Christmas with Kyle's side of the family she tells me it's my fault."

"Wow." Jack's eyes widened. "That's quite a story." 

"It's the anecdote I tell at parties if I have to actually be civilised and talk to people." Gabe said proudly. 

"That happen often?"

"Thankfully, no."

Jack laughed. "I feel that. Good thing about being a recluse is that nobody asks me to come to awkward parties and pretend to give two shits about anyone or anything."

"Mmhmm." Gabe agreed. "Must be good."

"One question though." Jack made a curious expression at him. "I don't get why you had to walk your sister down the aisle? That's not standard procedure, is it?"

Gabe shrugged. "Who else would it be if it wasn't me?”

"Your mother? Godparents? Even, like, an uncle or something?"

"My uncle lives in Alaska and sends us a postcard every, I dunno, seven years? You think I'd let him do it?"

"I mean, I guess not." Jack said awkwardly. "I was just wondering is all?"

"Oh, don't tiptoe around the issue. I'll tell you what you want to know, ok? The deal is, all my sisters are a lot younger than me, so when our dad passed away, I kinda took over, helped look after them, since our Mom had to work all the time. So I'd feel terrible to just let someone who has never been involved in Sylvie's life take my place, you understand?"

"I guess I can imagine it." Jack said sympathetically. "That explains a lot about you, actually."

"Does it?"

"Yeah. I mean, you sound like you- care. About a lot of things." 

Gabe rolled his eyes. "And obviously that's something that only parents do, is it?"

"Well, you see a lot of men who only really start caring about things when they have a kid of their own." 

"I guess." Gabe agreed. "I think that's mainly just the way people raise their sons to be, though. Not everyone is like that."

"True, but I think looking after kids helps with that kind of thing." 

Gabe considered. "Yeah, I can believe that. It's like how you can always tell the difference between people who were single kids, and kids who had siblings."

"Can you?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Yup. Sure can. For example, I'm willing to bet you were an only child." Gabriel glanced over at Jack, waiting for confirmation."

"Well shit. I guess you got me."

"I told you." Gabe smiled.

"You sure you aren't just making generalizations? Because I'm a weird grumpy hermit and I don't like people?"

"I mean, partially. They do tend to be more independent, and private."

"Wow, Mr Child Psychology. You take a course?"

"I spend a lot of time around kids."

"Slightly weird, but okay."

"You know how I mean."

"Yeah, I do." Jack chuckled. "Jeez, I was the poster child for 'private'. My mom home-schooled me up until I was ten. When I started school I didn't know what to do. It was loud and intrusive and I felt like I was smarter than everyone else. Took me years to start making friends."

Gabe nodded. "To be honest I was never really bothered about making friends either. I had some buddies from when I was really small, and we were all pretty close but apart from them I just ignored everyone."

Jack pouted. "That doesn't count! That's friends! You know how every class has like, a weird kid who doesn't say much, and you're secretly worried is going to come in one day with a gun? That was me! I mean, I just sat there and glared at everyone!"

"Why?"

"Because it was a boy's school, and I had a crush on everyone! I mean, most of them were homophobic as hell, because I was raised in Satan's armpit, and I was worried that if I opened my mouth, gay would come out! It was terrifying, Gabe! And then we got this new English teacher, and he was really, really nice to me, and it was just awful." He ended, and frowned.

"Wait, how is that a problem?" 

"Because he was very good looking, and he'd talk to me, and ask about how I was, and how life was at home, and I was just hopelessly in love with him. He lent me a pen, and I took it home and put it on my bedside table and never used it because it was too special! I mean, he left after two years, and I joined the track team and started talking to people, and I actually had a secret boyfriend at one point, but apart from that, it was all a dead loss."

"Which is why you never went back?" Gabe guessed.

"Exactly."

Somehow, the stereo started blasting yet another Carly Rae Jepsen song, and Gabe sighed. He was sure they had been hearing nothing but her for the last 15 minutes.

"This is a really odd mix." He said dully.

"That would be because I put it onto the album." Jack said, utterly remorseless for Gabe's suffering. "What? She's perky and fun! Unlike all of your boring metal."

"Pleb." Gabe muttered.

"Snob." Jack retorted charmingly. He grinned, like a twat, and started swaying to the music. 

"Give me a break." Gabe rolled his eyes. "You're meant to be the professional with the plan."

"What, you think I have a plan?"

"You mean you don't?" Gabe barked. "I thought you knew what you were doing!?"

"Well, yeah!" Jack responded. "If I had a plan, don't you think I'd have told you? Our 'plan' is to drive really fast and hope we end up somewhere far away! Beyond that, I don't have a fucking clue." 

"Why the hell did you come back then?"

"Because I don't think I'm going to get any more chances, and I thought we'd have more chance of surviving if we stuck together! You have a family to get back to, and the only thing I've really cared for in years is slipping away through my fingers! I can't not help you! It's the only thing I can do! You know what, if you don't like it, you can just stop and leave me here, because I sure as hell don't have anything better to do!" He brought his arm down on his leg in anger, grunting in pain. He screwed his eyes up, and breathed in, and out, and the van kept driving. 

"I'm not leaving you." Said Gabe quietly. "But you could have told me you didn't know what you were doing." 

"Fine." Jack said harshly. "I've got no clue what I'm doing. But I'm doing my best."

"Right." Gabriel said. "Right. We'll keep on driving then, and the next town we come to, we'll ditch the van and find alternate transport. Throw them off. Then we head to my home turf, and look into a way out of the country." 

"Is that safe?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"Probably not. But it's the only thing I can think of, and I'll know my way around better than your colleagues do." 

"They're not my colleagues anymore." 

"Good." Gabe smiled. "Hey, chin up. We're not dead yet, remember?"

"Right." Jack bit his lip, and then he slowly began to smile too.

And they drove toward the future, shining and terrible, their crusade championed not by heralds, or angels but by loud pop music. Somehow, it did feel apt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! Jack is back! Did he ever even go away? Could he have left Gabe alone for this?
> 
> (of course not)
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to Carly Rae Jepsen, I love you and I hope you don't mind being mentioned in this! I don't have any money so please don't sue me!
> 
> Thanks for reading! As always, find me at mothdads.tumblr.com, or even at transfashionguy.tumblr.com, where updates will also be posted about this fic! And remember to have a lovely day!


	13. A return to Civilisation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack gets a milkshake, and Gabriel falls out of a window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real talk, Jack's new summer skin confirms EVERYTHING I believe about him, ohhhh my god. He'S wEaRiNg SoCkS aNd SaNdAlS

After so many godforsaken hours on the road, Gabe couldn't express how happy he was to see civilisation again. They were on the outskirts of a town now, a real, normal town with people other than Jack Morrison in! What a sight it was to see, as they all stared at the passing van. 

Oh, right.

"Can you turn the music off?" He asked a snoozing Jack Morrison, who despite all odds had managed to fall asleep to the sweet sound of Rage against the Machine's Killing in The Name Of. Which was quite sweet to be honest, since being asleep made his face look far less grumpy, but was inconvenient in that there was nobody to turn the music off, which was blasting to a few dozen people in the street, none of which looked like they were really enjoying it. And it was drawing attention to them. 

"Jack?" He took one hand off the steering wheel for a second, to shake him firmly by the shoulder. "Jack. Wake the fuck up." 

"Ughhh." Muttered Jack, and turned away from him. 

"Jack I swear to God, wake up!" Gabe said, a little louder than necessary, but it had the desired effect. 

 

Jack Morrison sat bolt upright, looking like a deer in the headlights. "What?!"

"Could you turn the music off?" 

Jack nodded groggily. "Finally." 

 

With the music off, eyes started to divert away from the van. Boy, that was a crisis narrowly averted. Already they were conspicuous. Not to mention that the van was nearly out of gas, and Gabe felt pretty damn tired himself. 

 

"You wanna pull over somewhere and get something to drink?" Gabe asked tentatively, heart set on a really strong coffee.

"That sounds good." Jack agreed. 

"Great." Gabe said, and started scouring their surroundings for either a decent cafe or a discrete place to park. 

 

That was harder than it looked, but eventually Gabe found some decent parking around the back of a dingy-looking mall. He hadn't seen anywhere that looked like it might do good coffee, and he was not in the mood for a substandard coffee, so the mall looked like a good place to start for that too. 

 

The coffee shop could easily have been mistaken for a thousand other coffee shops, it was that generic. It could not be more generic. The pale green sign above it might as well have said Hot Bean Water. 

Gabriel led Jack inside, as his mind implicitly reminded itself how much he hated buying from chain stores. 

Inside, it was mildly less generic. Actually, it was very generic, with the exception of various figures of the Teenage Ninja Turtle Mutants, which seemed at first to be small in number, but the more you looked, the more you saw. There was one glued to the ceiling, and Gabe was pretty sure that that one was either called Ralphonse or Rolfio, but he couldn't tell you for sure.

"Right." He said. "Coffee. That is what I need right now. You know what you want?" 

"I can't see the fucking menu, Gabriel." 

"Don't you have a normal coffee order, you know?" He asked tiredly.

"No."

"Really? You freak, Jack. You don't have a regular coffee order? Seriously?" 

"Nah. I'm weird like that. Guess I could go for a chocolate milkshake, if they have them."

Gabe looked over at him. "Really? You're gonna order a choco milkshake like a seven year old kid? We're on the run from the law, Jack, and you're not gonna order a dignified drink? What if we get followed here, and the spooks are like 'look at this loser, he orders chocolate milk from coffee shops!' Wouldn't you be embarrassed?"

"Nope. I need my sugar fix, and I love me a good chocolate milkshake. The spooks can penalise me as much as they goddamn want." Jack declared very seriously. "You know me, Gabe, I only eat like, three things that exist, and I can't cook for shit. We're all goddamn children at heart, but at least I accept it. Now, please Gabe, choccy milkshake. If you feel like it won't look manly enough you can buy some cheap booze and pour that in it. Might make you feel better about buying drinks for a wimp." 

"Right." Gabe said. "Chocolate milkshake if you want. I will mock you for it though." 

He manoeuvred them into the queue behind an elderly gentleman wearing a baseball cap that said 'Octopus Junction' on it in big letters. He wondered what an octopus junction would even look like. Were the octopi in cars? How would cars have to be adapted in order to accommodate octopus drivers? Would they move the location of the pedals? Was octopus junction located underwater? How would traffic rules have to be changed underwater? The possibilities were mind blowing. 

"Can I help you?" The woman at the counter said, and Gabriel realised she was talking to him. Shit. Talky time.

"Oh, err, right." He said awkwardly. "Can I get a long Macchiato with an extra espresso shot and a Chocolate milkshake?"

The woman stared at him glumly. She was covered in tattoos, and had more piercings than face. Some of the tattoos looked pretty amateur, but he could respect the look. 

"We don't offer those here." 

"What, the chocolate milkshake?"

"No, the Machiatto." She answered, deadpan. She sounded like she didn't give a shit. Gabriel empathised.

"Right. Well, could you just put like, four espressos in a cup, and pour a bit of milk or cream or something in it? Actually, you know what, I don't care how much goes into it, as long as there's enough caffeine in there to kill me. Please. I need this." 

"Fine." She said, sounding as if the last of her will to live was being siphoned from her body into the ugly apron she was wearing. "That'll be... uhhh... seven dollars, twenty cents." 

She hadn't looked at the till at all. She hadn't tallied anything up. Gabe's guess was that that was just a number she had pulled right from her head. Gabe respected that too. He had made a difficult order. He was the shitty customer. 

"Right." He said, and paid. 

"Will you want these in or to take away?" She asked. 

Gabe looked around. There were no free seats, miraculously enough. 

"Take away." He said, and the woman indicated a pickup point a few meters away. "Can I get a name for this order?"

"Gabriel." 

He looked at her name tag. It said 'Lizard' on it. There had to be a story behind that. What it was, he would most likely never know.

"Thank you, your order will be ready in a few minutes." She said, and turned her attention to the next customer, with another soul crushing "Hi, can I help you?"

"I need to piss." Jack muttered. "There a restroom in here?" 

Gabe looked around. There was. Just over to the right of the pickup point. 

"Over here." He walked Jack over to the point where the door to the mens room was, and pushed the door open. Empty, and slightly grimy. 

"Urinals are over to the left."

"Thanks, Gabe." He patted him on the shoulder. "Life saver."

"I'll be just outside waiting for our drinks." 

He left Jack there, and hovered by the collection point with two tired-looking students. They were having an argument about a videogame, but neither of them seemed committed to it. The poor fool on the left seemed to think that Symmetric was a better Underwatch character than Muerto. Obviously he had never played the game.

He glanced over the counter to see if his coffee was being made yet, and made content with another Ninja Teenage Turtle Mutant figurine which was perched on the side of the sink. The blue one- what was he called? Legolas? Yeah, that must've been it.

He gazed out over the cafe and its inhabitants. There was a distinct colour scheme of grey that made everything looked far more dour than it had to be. A woman stirred her coffee, staring absent-mindedly out the window. Two young parents tried unsuccessfully to calm their hyperactive son, who at that moment managed to escape his little toddler harness and shot off across the cafe, father in hot pursuit. Gabe watched in amusement as the toddler dodged through a forest of legs, both flesh and wooden, much to the dismay of his bedraggled father.

"Milkshake and a, uh, load of espressos in a cup for Gabriel?" A slightly more awake looking young man put Gabe's drinks down on the counter. 

"Thanks." He said, and took them from him. He took a sip of his own. VERY HOT. VERY STRONG. His tongue was already singed. The coffee was pretty okay though. He had actually expected worse. 

He was tempted to drink a bit of Jack's milkshake while he was waiting. No, that would be cruel. That said, he was a cruel man. But, alas, not that cruel. He would just have to stand here and wait for Jack. Maybe do some more people watching. Ah, the joys of wearing mirrored sunglasses. 

Past the window walked three women holding shopping bags. Then a teenage boy with hair that reminded him of a bad haircut he had had as a teenager. Then two men in black suits.  
Ohhhhh, heck. Oh boy. Oh buddy.

 

He glanced back, just to check that it wasn't just two businessmen. No, same suits, same shades, and those specially made tactical shoes with the thick rubber soles. And they were walking this way. Had they seen him? No, they didn't look like it. But the doorway was in their direction. If he left, he would come into contact with them for sure, it just wasn't a possibility. But what others were there? They were coming in. As they passed through the doorway, Gabriel went the only way he could: he ducked back into the bathroom. 

"Jack!"

Jack looked up from where he currently stood, drying his hands on a paper towel. 

"Gabe? What is it?" 

"They're fucking here, Jack. Already." He said, and tried very hard not to panic, dread dripping, sweat off his brow. 

"There are agents here? Did they see you?" Jack dropped his paper towel and instinctively reached for the gun tucked under his shirt. 

"Don't think so. I think we'd know if they had."

Jack nodded. "Right. What's the plan?"

"I don't know. Waiting for them to leave is risky, but taking a look outside could be disastrous. So, we could hide in the cubicles, and try to think of a better plan."

"If it's the best we got, then so be it." 

"Yeah." Gabe agreed. "Hey, you want your drink?"

"We're in the toilets, Gabriel." Jack wrinkled his nose disapprovingly. 

"And it looks as if we're gonna be here for a while. You could just bin it though, it's your choice."

Jack sighed. "Give me the damn milkshake, and let's lock ourselves into these toilets."

 

"Okay." Gabriel gave Jack the drink, and turning back they hurried over to the individual stalls, locking themselves into the second and third along from the wall. Gabriel lowered the lid and sat on it, contemplating all the places he would rather be. He silently toasted to his own good health, and took a large gulp from the now drinkable liquid. It made his skin crawl a bit, and he hadn't hit the caffeine rush yet, but he could feel it coming on. Not in the mood for savouring the drink, he finished it and dropped it into a grim looking corner.

"Gabe!" Jack knocked insistently on the wall between them. "I think there's a window in my stall."

"What?"

"It might not be, but I'm pretty sure I can feel the wind. Come check it out!"

Gabe didn't have to be asked twice. 

Hastily he unlocked his stall, and slipped quickly into Jack's stall, thankful that they were still the only inhabitants of the restroom. 

"Look!" Jack said, and pointed up. Sure as anything, there was a small window set high above the toilet. It looked like it could just about fit an adult man through it, but it would be a tight squeeze. 

"It's a window alright. Fitting through it could be a tight squeeze. You think we should go for it?"

"I'll push you if you get stuck. It'll be fine." Jack reassured him. 

"Hmm. Well, okay. Guess we've got nothing to lose. Except, y'know, our lives. And everything we own, etc."

"Oh shut up and start climbing." 

A retort formed in Gabriel's mind, but he thought better of it. Jack had a point. 

Grumbling to himself, he clambered up over the toilet, which felt less secure than was ideal, but still held for the time being. Right. He pulled the window as far open as it would go, and, oops, he broke the handle. It probably wasn't really properly his fault. It was old anyway. 

He leaned his head through the window, and looked out over a dingy back alley. It was relatively clean, but it was also a receptacle for dumpsters. Below him was hard ground, over a meters drop. He did not want to be doing this head first, but going legs first would be practically impossible.

Okay. 

 

He pushed his arms out in front of him, and got out about to his shoulders. Fuck, this was going to be tight. He braced his arms against the wall and began the excruciating process of wriggling through the window frame. He could feel his tee shirt picking up every piece of dust and gross residue on the window sill. Eugh. He squeezed himself out even further, now he was out to his mid-torso, dangling awkwardly from the window. The concrete below did not look like a pleasant landing zone. He squirmed through even further, trying studiously to ignore just how tight the frame felt around his waist, and the crushing fear that he would get stuck, just like in that one Winnie the Pooh story. Maybe he could get Jack to hang towels off his legs for the comedic value. Yes, that was it, laugh through the pain. And the growing claustrophobia. Man, this would be an embarrassing position to be caught by government agents in. He was lucky Jack couldn't see it. 

He really hoped Jack hadn't noticed how much trouble he was having with this.

With a colossal effort and a great deal of grunting, Gabe managed to shift himself, trying not to let his legs flail wildly as he pushed himself forwards, just a little furthe-

Fuck!

Gabriel tumbled forward and crumbled, face first into the hard concrete, collapsing into a dusty heap, and noticed in total desolation that there was an old candy wrapper in his hair. He sat up, and brushed the trash out of his hair. 

"Your turn, Jack! I'm through." He called through the open window.

Jack poked his head out the window. "You okay? Not too far a drop, is it?" 

"No, only a few metres. Come on, we need to be out of here."

"Right." Jack slid both his arms out through the windowsill and started the process of climbing through the window.

Then he stopped, and actually began retracting himself through the window. 

"Jack?"

Jack shushed him, and Gabe watched, powerless and silent as Jack disappeared back into the bathroom. What was he doing? Gabe could hear and see nothing. 

Paranoia set in. Had they been found? Why had Jack gone back in? How long would he have to wait for him?

...Could it be he had been trying to get Gabe out of the way? There was a lot about Jack that he didn't know, and the thought of the conversation he had overheard between Jack and the agent sent shivers down his spine.

But Jack hadn't steered him wrong yet. And Gabe wasn't going to throw out everything he knew about the man without giving him the chance to explain himself. 

"Gabriel? You still there?" 

Jack's head poked out over the window sill and Gabe breathed a sigh of relief.

"Right here, Jack." 

"Good. I'm coming out."

 

Jack climbed up, and within a few seconds had slid lithely through the window like a buttered gazelle. Gabe watched as he shifted round, til he was facing up, and ran a hand along the wall. His hands found a ledge, and he grabbed onto it, holding on, as he slid his legs through the open window. He hung there for just a second, before lightly dropping to the ground, upright and uninjured. He turned around and grinned. It was almost like he was trying to humiliate Gabe.

"Well, that was easier than I expected."

"Was it? Was it really?" Gabriel regarded him dispassionately, and tried not to look too annoyed.

"Wasn't it? Did I miss something?" Jack looked worried. 

"No, it's nothing. I'm just not as used to doing this kind of thing as you, I suppose."

"Oh." Jack said impotently, and patted Gabe lightly on the shoulder. "Well, we ought to get moving now. Time is of the essence and all that."

He got the distinct sense that Jack was trying his best to be empathetic. He would accept it. He had no time for bitterness right now. And hey- it wasn't his fault that Jack had the body of a goddamn river salmon. He would just have to do better from now on. 

"Come on, then." He let Jack take hold of his arm, and they hurried off, trying their hardest to keep a low profile, which they were both heinously ill prepared for, physically speaking. It wasn't every day you saw a tall man in the most garishly touristy clothes possibly holding hands with a disgruntled looking metal fan in his late forties. Or at least, it was definitely not everyday that these particular people saw something like that, given how much they were either staring or deliberately avoiding looking in their direction.

 

"People are staring, Jack." He hissed out of the side of his mouth to his erstwhile partner-in-crime. 

"Just try to look confident, and non-suspicious. If you look like you know what you're doing, they tend not to question it. Do you remember where you parked the van?" 

"Of course I do, who do you think I am? We're taking a detour to avoid the mall. I dunno if those really were agents that were sent after us, but I'm not taking any chances."

Jack nodded. "You weren't wrong, those guys were definitely agents. I overheard them talking in the bathroom. They've been sent to locate the two agents we took out and secure the situation. It's not good- I didn't expect them to have sent out more people already, but on the plus side, it'll be a while until they get to Willsdale, so for now, they aren't actually looking for us."

Gabe absorbed the information. Jack was right, this wasn't good, but it could be worse. At least now they knew how much time they'd have until Jack's people knew what was going on. 

"Okay."

Jack squeezed his hand. "Hey, it could be worse. Right now, you could be dead, and I could be unconscious in a van back to HQ. But we're here now, and I think that's pretty special. We make a good team." 

Gabriel could not stop himself from smiling then. He leaned just slightly against Jack's shoulder, and it made him feel breathy and light-headed. "Thank you." He whispered, lips only millimetres from Jack's head, and he felt Jack shiver. "We do make a good team."

"Hah... uh... yes." Jack responded, colour flooding his face. 

Well, that had certainly achieved something, Everyone on the street was now determinedly avoiding eye contact with him, which did not really matter now, but be got a perverse sense of enjoyment out of it at least.  
Then they came to a roundabout that Gabe did not recognise, and he realised that they were going the wrong way. 

 

"Fuck." He sighed, and tried to remember if it was the last left or the left before that which he had meant to take. He squinted at the road signs. Highway. Town centre. Train station.

Train Station.

"Jack, there's a train station here. In your professional opinion, would taking a train be a good idea?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, shake up our tracks. We'll need to go back to the van first, though. I have things I can't leave in there for too long."

"Sounds good to me." He turned back, headed for what he had decided was the second left he had missed, now their first right. 

They walked purposefully, and only got lost one more time before they found the parking lot where they had left the van. Once inside, Gabe hurried to collect everything they had left in the front, while Jack was making some interesting noises in the back. He peered over as soon as he had stuffed everything into his rucksack. 

"What are you doing?"

 

Jack held up a terrifying looking assault rifle, which had the name Marlon carved into the side of it. Then he put it into his suitcase delicately, and arranged some shirts over it, before zipping up the suitcase. 

 

"Packing." He said. 

"Did you name that assault rifle?"

"No. It belonged to a partner, a long time ago. He was very particular about being able to tell his stuff apart from mine." He said, and looked down pensively.

Gabe didn't even want to think about the strange mixture of terrifying and sensitive that Jack was looking right now.

"Could you help me with something?" He asked with a feeling of mirthless resolution.

"What is it?"

Jack pointed to the crate Gabe had seen him put in the car earlier, now lidless. It was full to the brink with guns. "I need to hide this somewhere."

Gabe gulped. "Okay." 

"I can carry it fine, I just need somewhere to put it." 

"Right." 

Gabe stepped out of the van and looked around them. 

"Maybe behind that dumpster over there?" He suggested.

"Lead the way, buddy." 

Gabe joined him, and grabbed the other side of the crate, walking backwards in the direction of the dumpsters that sat just past the painted boundaries of the car park. 

"Jack..." He said carefully. "Were there any others like me?" 

Jack tensed up. "What do you mean?" 

"Did any other people end up trespassing on the meteor site?" 

"A few." 

This had been what Gabe was afraid of. 

"What happened to them?" He asked, feeling deeply uneasy. 

"We'd interrogate them. Then, we'd send word to HQ and a team would come down to take them away and wipe their memories. It was standard procedure. We got a few people in the early days, some were working for other organisations, some were just people in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Gabriel said nothing, he was thinking. That definitely matched up with all the things he'd heard from Jack in the basement, and everything he had been told about the Willsdale situation so far, but something still bothered him. 

 

"What's this about, Gabe?" Jack asked, aware that something was off. He was a sharp one, he really was. 

"Who is buried in your back yard, Jack?"

They reached the dumpster. Together they lowered the crate to the ground, and positioned it behind them, out of sight and out of mind.

Jack sighed. "Did you really think I'd be left as defence on such a sensitive site on my own? It's a big house for just one person."

"You had roommates?"

"For lack of a better word, yes. Co-workers, friends, whatever you want to call them. There were four of us once."

"What happened to them?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "What do you think? They're dead, Gabe, they died. I didn't kill them. Do you really need to know anything more?"

Gabe bit his lip. "Not if you don't want to tell me. I'm sorry, Jack." 

"No, it's fine." Jack said, though you could tell from his face that it clearly wasn't. "I understand. You don't trust me, and you needed to know."

 

"I do trust you, Jack. Of course I do. You would know if I didn't. But really, there's a lot I don't know about you, and given the situation, it makes me nervous. But I'm still here with you all the same."

Jack leaned against him, and put a hand round his shoulder. "Well, that is very good to hear." 

"Mmhmm." Gabe said, enjoying the feeling of his presence, even if it made him feel even hotter and stickier than he would have liked, given the heat and unfortunate lack of wind that still plagued them. 

"We should probably get out of here before someone sees us." Jack said, and unwound himself from Gabe's body. "Thanks for this though." 

"For what?" Gabe asked. He didn't think he had really done anything noteworthy. 

"Oh, everything. Maybe you don't know this, but I am really grateful to be here with you. I don't think I could have left home without you to push me. You've helped me do big things, Gabe."

 

Gabe smiled, and brushed a bit of fluff from Jack's shoulder. "As I remember, you had a big part in it yourself, Jack. Now, don't start going mushy on me."

"Right." Jack agreed, and grinned. "We have a train to catch."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this relatively non-angsty and fairly gay chapter! Now, a word from my sister- 
> 
> once upon az time there was a hoirse what was big. poyt say el hrse, and thump he on the hedas he believed that the man was a drmatologtst. jebs say fwoosnh and fall on el polo shirt which cause polo man to hrrrrrnd jebs. jeebs was sad as he feelt dscriminyted agains as a drmatologgy, and crieede aboy it. the hosrre sayy donut be said and he patt jebs on th haed. polu bouy say he need feesh and leave no trase off existenshal crises.
> 
> Thank you to my sister. We appreciate this message, whatever the fuck it is meant to be. 
> 
> I've almost finished next chapter so you can expect it soon! Have a good day! I am available at mothdads.tumblr.com and will try my best to answer your messages promptly!


	14. Home.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For better or for worse, Gabriel finds his way back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a beast of a chapter for you all! I hope it lives up to expectations.

It was dark now. The train, mechanical wonder of modern life had pulled them from Creamy latte skies into a dark starless night. Gabriel had felt the energy in his body slowly drain out into paranoia and nervous energy, which seeped out through his pores as he sat stationary in his seat. It had been a long and relentless day, and it wasn't over yet. Now, Gabriel Reyes, Jack Morrison and two heavily battered suitcases tried their best to blend into the murky soot twilight of a graffitied brick wall, tucked as far as they could be from the watchful glare of the streetlights. 

The good thing was, he knew this territory. However, this was also in many ways a bad thing. He hoped intently that no friendly fool would happen to recognise him. In this way, his dismal social life was actually a good thing. 

But that wasn't really the problem. The problem was him being here. The problem was all around him. The problem was also in a townhouse three blocks away from where he stood. And the problem was also him.  
Sometimes problems were like that. Multi-faceted. Really shitty.

"I feel like we should be smoking cheap cigarettes and holding a cheap bag of alcohol." Jack said, choosing a fine moment to be witty. 

"Fuck, what I'd do for some cheap booze and smokes." Gabe agreed. 

People walked by, chattering. A group of girls, teenage, maybe twenties. All wearing different variations of the same outfit. Different shorts, but all the same cut. Different shirts with interchangeable styles. The effortless styling, the same that everyone else wore, the whisper under someone's breath about who wore it better, the competition, and the effortless giggly banter that supported the idea that each of them was a little more than tipsy. They looked alive. More alive than Gabe felt.   
They passed, like the music video for a flashy pop song, having their moment under the streetlight, and then passing him by. A taxi drove by, accompanied by a flock of other vehicles that left trails of light burnt into his eyes. Somewhere in the background a police siren wailed. Pigeons congregated on a window sill. Three blocks away, a young woman tucked her daughter into bed. Or so he assumed. Now she might open the window and look out at the concrete kingdom she had built on dirty money, the street below full of people who deserved to know her name. Maybe she would have a drink of something. What it would be was anyone's guess.

"There's something going on here, I just know it." Jack said.

That shook him out well enough.

"What?"

"Something's up, I can tell. You're doing that thing you do again."

"What thing."

"Oh, you know. The thinking."

"I assumed that was something everyone did." Gabe commented snarkily. 

"Definitely not." Jack grinned. "I determine to do as little of it as possible. Nasty habit." 

"Can't deny it. You had a go at it, and look where it got you. Nowhere good for sure." 

"And I'll be somewhere worse if you don't end up winning whatever argument you're having with yourself. Come on Gabe! I'm relying on you for navigation, 'cause I sure can't go anywhere by myself out here."

Gabriel nodded his head in concession. "Well, I'm trying to make a very difficult decision. I've kinda run out of plan, and I could either do something sensible or I could do this really terrible, dangerous thing that is really tempting me right now."

"Oh boy, bad decisions." Jack said, with the barest hint of a smile, a new smile that Gabe was just beginning to notice, straight face with lips just curling up slightly at the edges, and a look in the eyes. "You're not conflicted by my booze and cigarettes option are you?"

Gabriel laughed slightly and shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. More serious than that." 

"More serious? God forbid. You're doing some scary thinking now, aren't you?"

"Uh-huh." He agreed.

"So. This idea is a foolish idea, huh?" 

"Yup."

"And it'd be dangerous, correct?"

"Somewhere between quite to very dangerous." 

Jack nodded. "That's in 'could get us killed' territory then, is it?"

Gabe sighed. "Possibly, yes. It'd be dangerous, and utterly stupid, but somehow I still feel..."

"That it'd be worth it?"

Morosely, Gabriel nodded his head. "I cannot convey to you how much it would mean to me. And if it were just me, I might, but-"

"You don't want to get me killed?"

"Well, yeah." Gabe's face softened from the knitted frown it had taken on. "I couldn't put your life at risk for the sake of my... personal business."

"You know Gabriel, I appreciate the sentiment, but if you think for a hot second that my screw-up of a life should stand in the way of whatever is calling to you right now, you have your priorities all messed up."

"Hey, your life isn't exactly expendable! And you shouldn't talk like that!" Gabe argued. "I don't appreciate it, and I don't think you're really grasping how serious this is!"

"You know what, Gabriel? I'm gonna be frank with you." Jack said with a surprisingly even tone. "We're both slowing each other down. Whatever we're doing is a liability. You seem to retain remarkably little survival instinct for an ex-soldier, and I sincerely doubt you remember half your training. I am fucking blind. Blind, Gabe. Now, from a survival perspective that doesn't bode too well for me. And at about the point that I realised this, I also realised, you know, none of this really matters. The rule book's out the window. There are no rules for what we're doing. So you know, what the hell." 

He slapped Gabe on the back. 

"Come on, he continued cheerily. "We'll do what you want. You want to get piss-drunk, we'll do that. You have something you need to do for peace of mind, we'll do that. Because you might not get another chance at this, and you oughtn't avoid it for my sake. I've missed my share of opportunities already."

"Jack-"

"Save it, Gabe. You gotta do what you gotta do." Jack reached an arm out unsteadily, which clutched around Gabe's bare forearm.

"You know what? Fine. We're doing this, God help me." Gabe straightened up, extending out the handle of his suitcase. "Let's roll." 

Jack grinned and nodded. "Lead the way." 

And he did. Across the main road, thanking the night for reduced traffic, and walking past a few little shops, and left, into the world of rich city-dwellers, flanked by gorgeous old town houses, uniform and mostly well-preserved. There were trees every five steps, and they were pretty enough against the backdrop, light filtering through the leaves, and the sky was bruised blue-grey, the not-quite-darkness that can always be found in cities. He had walked this way too many times before. This view had stuck with him, ever since the first time, when he had confused number 142 with number 124 and ended up on completely the wrong doorstep. So many years ago now. There they went, suitcases trundling, and Gabriel was so very anxious, but he felt something else inside him also, and he knew he needed to do this.

They turned a corner past that one house that somebody had painted black. Gabe had always liked that house in particular. 

A light flashed on and off in front of them, someone's porch light on the blink. Not hers. Never hers. They were growing closer now, outside number 112, 114, 118... Number 124. 

Oh Jesus. This was it.

He grabbed around in his many pockets, breathed a sigh of relief when his hands closed around the key fob with the little bunny keyring that had been a Christmas gift so many years ago. He was here. 

He put the key in the lock, twisted it left, wondered what he would find inside. He'd be quiet, take a look inside, make sure everything was okay, and then he would go. He just needed to check, this one thing. There was a light on in the hallway. 

The lock clicked, and he pushed the door open, expensive hallway dragging away before him. 

A woman with long, curly hair that went down to her back wandered out of the front room haphazardly, and wandered down the hallway, not even looking towards the threshold. There was a geometric tattoo around the wrist that Gabriel remembered seeing for the first time, back when it was red and sore and covered in cling film. It was her, of course it was her. Not the one he had been expecting, but such a painfully good sight to see. It hurt his heart. 

"Wait here." He whispered to Jack.

Jack nodded. "Will do."

Gabe dropped his suitcase, and set one foot, one historic foot over that threshold, and of course he was going to do the thing that he had promised he wouldn't. Of course he was going to do it. 

"Cassie!" He called, and one footstep echoed another, and then he was running, footsteps echoing after her. She stopped dead, and Gabe's hand reached out, slowing. It came to rest on the back of her shoulder. "Cassie."

"Don't." She whispered, softer than a breath. "Don't you dare. I can't be drunk enough to be hallucinating." 

"Cassie, it's me. You know there's no-one else it could be." He said, trying to stop his hand from shaking. "Please, just turn around. Look at me." 

Cassie made a shivery little intake of breath that felt like it was shaking his heart. 

"That voice... only belongs to two men. And I really do want to believe you, but..."

"Just do it." Gabriel urged her. "Please, Cassie. I'm no spectre."

"You know, I had a dream that was just like this." She insisted thinly. "You came to me, just like this, and told me that this all had been a mistake, that you weren't dead. And it made me so, so happy."

"Then look at me." He said again, plea resounding upon the deaf ears of the walls. "Please, just look at me. Let me see your face. I can't stay long." 

"You said the same thing last time." She said sadly. "And it made waking up even harder than it already is." 

He squeezed her shoulder gently, and said nothing.

"Oh bother." She said, and turned around. She stared into his face. That was his Cassie, his Cassandra. The eyebrows, the downturned mouth that meant she looked permanently disgruntled, the chickenpox scar just below her nose, and she looked like she might have been crying, but it could have been the light, because Cassie didn't cry. And she looked at him, and she looked at him, and she examined his soul, as if it might not be the same one she had last seen him with. 

"You look like shit, Gaby." She said shakily. "I imagined you'd look less scruffy in death." 

"These last few days have been hell." He said, realising the morbid pun only seconds after it had escaped his lips. 

Cassie laughed, and pulled him into one of the tightest hugs he had ever experienced, and he got the feeling that he wouldn't be escaping it very soon. He didn't want to. 

She did not stop laughing, and it made even Gabriel want to smile, as grave as he felt. He did not get the joke, if there was one. 

"You know how I can tell you're real?" She asked, still chuckling.

"Uhhh, is it my tangible body?" 

"Oh, you and your jokes. No, it's how goddamn dreadful you smell. Jesus, you ever hear of this thing called deodorant?"

"Apparently not." He smiled down back at her. 

She grinned back, and pinched herself. She nodded, apparently satisfied with her own consciousness. Then she pinched him on the arm. Hard. 

"Ow. What gives, Cass?" He rubbed his injured arm in protest. She had a mean pinch. 

"Just making sure. No harm in double checking." 

"Right. Sure." 

She laughed, and leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek. "So what're you doing around here, eh? This isn't your house, you know. Can't just barge in whenever you like."

"Not yours either, if I remember correctly." Gabe chided.

"Nina called a family meeting when you… You know."

"Wait, so everyone's here?"

"Well, not everyone, it's actually just us three. You know, plus you now. And... hey, is that a guy? In the doorway? Did you- did you bring a friend?"

Jack waved awkwardly from the doorway. Gabe presumed he had heard everything that had happened. That was okay. He trusted him. 

"Oh my god." She said, looking thoroughly bewildered. "Well, uh, come in." She called over. "Shut the door after you."

"Sure thing, ma'am." He said stiffly, and shut the door behind him. 

"Hey Cass, what's taking so long?" A voice called from the front room, and then both Sylvia and Nina were there in the corridor, and they just looked at him, in a stunned silence, as the air grew tight around them. 

Then Sylvie burst into tears. 

"Brother!" Nina yelled, and came careening forwards, crashing into him at ridiculous speed, sending him flying backward into the wall, and knocking an alien shaped plushie off the cabinet beside him. In a matter of seconds they were all on him. 

"My girls!" he grinned broadly, as one of them nuzzled up to his chin. "You would not believe how much I've missed you all."

"We missed you more!" Insisted Nina loudly. "They told us you were dead! Dead, for christsakes! I'm not ready to lose you, Gabey! It was a real dick move!" 

"Aww, Nina." He felt tears swelling up in his eyes, and made a beleaguered attempt to blink them back. But, he could not stop those tears from falling. 

"Mmph." Sylvie said something, and though it was obfuscated by the pressing mass of sibling, he appreciated the sentiment nonetheless. 

"I'm sorry." He said earnestly. "I messed up." 

"You did, but we're glad enough to see you back that we'll overlook it." Cassie said happily. "For now."

"You'll have to tell us all about it." Nina added. "I want to know what's going on."

"Well, my friend Jack will have to fill in some details, because I'm still blurry on some areas, but I'll tell you everything that's happened." 

Sylvie extracted her tall frame from the person tangle, and looked over at Jack. 

"Hello." She said, caught between sobs. 

"Hi." Said Jack.

Nina waved to him. 

Jack did nothing in response, probably because he could not see it.

"Right, everyone." He said, feeling that some introduction was needed. "This is Jack. We're travelling together. Please be nice to him. Jack, these are my sisters." 

"I, uh, guessed. Nice to meet you all." He smiled terribly. He looked very nervous. Then again, given all that had happened between the two of them, he had reason to be anxious. 

"Are you two... hungry? Maybe? Because we have takeout and Cassie ordered way more than any of us can eat." Sylvie smiled at him, empathetic as always. 

"You are a life saver." Gabe declared. "Alright, hug time is over, I need my food, and I need it now." 

"Good to see you have your priorities in order." Nina said, standing up, and brushing the dust off her jeans. 

"Hey, if you knew what the last few days have been like, you wouldn't blame me." He insisted, pushing himself up from the floor. 

"You don't know that. I'm blaming you for everything as of now." Nina maintained. "You huge asshole. Irresponsible prick. Dumbo." She waved again at Jack. "Hey, you want some wine? It's on the house. Thanks for bringing my shitty brother home safely."

"I- that's not quite what happened." Jack said, making himself look as small as possible, which was not easy if you were wearing a garish hawaiian shirt and happened to be at least 6'1. Which Gabe could tell, because he was 6'1 himself, and Jack appeared to have a few cm on him the knowledge of which annoyed him endlessly. 

"Doesn't matter. You're here now, with us, and that means we all get to sit together and put expensive wine and Indian food into our bodies, while you tell us how you ended up with this jackass." 

As his sisters retreated into the living room, Gabe hurried over to where Jack was standing, and let him take hold of his arm. "Come on, Jack." He urged him gently. "Some food will do you good." 

"Can’t I just stay out here?” Jack asked.

Gabe stared at him in disbelief. 

“Of course not, Jack! You gotta come inside, get some food in you. Meet my sisters. They’re lovely, Jack, and I promise, they’ll like you. You’re welcome here.”

“With all the hurt i’ve caused them? Please. I shouldn’t go in there.” He said, quietly, soberly, the weight of the world hanging on his shoulders, which were strong yet not strong enough.

"You couldn't have known the consequences of all this. It’s like you said, we’re in the dark now. We should enjoy the times that are certain, and just hope for the best. Meeting my family isn’t going to kill you." He reminded Jack softly.

"Well, we don’t now, but… I did before. I knew what I was doing, and I followed procedure, a wrong procedure, even when I knew that you were a harmless civilian.”

Gabe scoffed. “Call me harmless again, Jackie. See what happens.”

Jack frowned, much with the manner of an irritated schoolteacher. “Don’t divert this conversation, Gabriel. I had my doubts about whether or not I was doing a good thing, but I did it anyway. I didn't think. I didn't think about the people I'd end up hurting. I mean, I did, but it seemed necessary. And it wasn't, Gabe. Losing people is damned hard, and I made your family suffer that, so I don’t really think I deserve to be here, and I think you know that too."

Gabriel sighed deeply. He didn’t know where to start. It was true enough from a certain perspective. Jack had done this. He was the immediate cause, but there were other ones too. So many. There was whoever it was Jack had worked for, those deplorable bastards. Jack had chosen to work for them, but Jack had not chosen to live through the omnic crisis, he had not explicitly chosen to be thrust into the tumultuous, dizzyingly dangerous yet seductively structured military life, and Gabe knew as much as most how hard it was to survive outside and to live without someone to tell you what to do and when to do it and how not to fall into blackening depressive episodes. Most of all, he was not the catalyst, the one who would drop everything at the drop of a hat to bound off into the blue, into danger without a word to those he loved.   
In a very real sense, Gabe was at fault for this just as much as Jack had been, but his fault was a discrete, dismissable one. That only made it harder.

"I know, Jack. But you are not the only one at fault here, and you know I don't blame you for this." 

"Well, that doesn't mean that I don't." They reached a stalemate, and it hung in the air, and of only Gabe had enough wits about him at this late hour to put all of his thoughts about that guilt into words, but unlike in this story, which has kindly provided those words for you, no such force existed for Gabe, and so he stood there, his thoughts remaining in his head and his tongue remaining in his mouth. Not verbose enough for this situation.

Gabe took a deep breath. "I understand. And we can talk about this. But not now. For a few hours, let’s just sweep this whole thing under the rug, okay? You don't have to talk much, or really do anything, but I can't just let you stand here the whole night." 

Jack nodded half-heartedly. "Fine. I'll do it for you, but don't expect me to talk much."

"Alright." 

He watched as Jack mustered as much smile as he possibly could. He was trying. Gabe was proud of that.

With Jack's arm clutched around his, they walked together along the hallway, and into the sitting room. They sat down together, on the sofa. Immediately, Nina was curled up next to him. 

"Wine." She said nondescriptly, and placed a very full glass of red wine into his hand. "Wine?" She asked Jack.

"Oh... sure. Thank you." He said, still managing to look a little uneasy as Nina poured him a glass.

"It's no trouble." She said. "My husband buys loads of the stuff. We got a whole rack of it, and he just keeps buying more, like he's some kinda European Baron trying to recreate the Cask of Amontillado."

"Oh yeah, where are Everett and Marie? They out?" 

"Yeah, visiting his family. Thankfully, they didn't extend the invitation to me." 

"Ooh, cold-blooded." 

"I know right? Like oh, we want to poison your lovely little girl with fundamentalist ideologies, and we're not even going to invite you along. How fucked up is that?" She grimaced. 

"I think it might have something to do with all the wedding shenanigans." Sylvie suggested. 

"I mean yeah, honestly. But you'd think they could find the funny side of it? I mean, it was hilarious." 

Jack perked up. "You told me this story right, Gabe? You made the kids cry and got off with the groom's brother?" 

"No, that was my wedding." Sylvie corrected him. "Nina's wedding was another matter entirely. But those things sure did happen."

"Oh man, are we telling Gabe stories now? Cause I want in!" Nina interrupted suddenly. 

Gabe groaned. "Please no."

"Gabriel!" Nina said, looking insulted. "You put us through hell, and then turn up to our sad party uninvited, with your new beau, and expect us not to humiliate you in front of him?"

Jack went bright red.

"Nina!" Gabe spluttered. "We are not a couple!"

Honestly, the indignity of it all! And look how embarrassed Jack looked! Gabriel deserved this, he really did, but that did not mean he was prepared for a grilling. 

"Aww come on! Of course you are! You two were holding hands and everything!"

"That is because I am blind." Jack said shortly. 

"...Oh." Nina said prudently. "Ah. I, uh. Sorry- about that."

Sylvie threw a cushion at her. 

"Just stop talking, Nina. You're making this weird for all of us." 

"I- fine. I just didn't know, was all. Sorry, Jack. Jack was your name, right?" 

"Was and is." 

Oooohh, this was getting Awkward. Gabe picked a tupperware carton full of someone's half-eaten onion bhaji off the table and a fork, and suddenly found it fascinating. For no reason at all. 

"We're getting distracted." Cassie diverted the conversation. Thankfully.

"Yeah, weren't we going through Gabe's wedding stories?" Sylvie added brightly.

Cancel that. Gabe wasn't thankful for this at all.

"We were." Cass agreed. "Which one first?" 

"Oooh, mine!" Nina insisted.

"Right so-"

"My wedding, my story Cassie." Nina stopped her before she could go on.

"But I don't have a wedding story."

"That's your personal problem. You want a wedding story, you convince Shrimp that you two should make things official. Or, you could dress Mr Scaley up in a little suit and have a lizard wedding, I guess." 

Cassie sulked. "Fine."

"Right!" Nina said, suddenly filled with energy. "So, this was like, three years ago, because tensions got super high between me and the Hellions- that's what I call my in-laws- and Emmett's dad insisted that me and him actually get hitched or he'd disown the lot of us, and yeah, I was okay with that but Emmett wasn't because he still sort of loves his folks, even though they're shitty, and they are, you know, so shitty, you know one time-"

"Getting off topic." Cass interrupted.

"Right, totally. But yeah, so we got married, it was great, I wore a suit because I thought it'd annoy them and it did, even though I couldn't get Emmett to wear a wedding dress, which was a pity, because it would've tied the whole thing together. And it was going better than Sylvie's, nobody was talking about Logical Positivism, and nobody cried. Except Gabe. He cried. He does that. Don't let him fool you, under the whole tall & terrifying thing he's got going on he's actually a big softie." 

Gabe rolled his eyes. "Maybe so. What does this have to do with the story?"

"I'm just building up your character, Gabey. He has to feel the situation viscerally- the story'll have more resonance that way."

Gabe shrugged. "If you say so."

"Yeah, so we had the photos, and then eventually we got to the reception, and I was like, whadda ya know, Gabe's gonna break the streak!"

"What streak?" Jack looked confused. 

"His wedding ruining streak." Said Sylvie. "It's very impressive. It's been going since before I was even born."

"Has it?" Gabe asked, a little dubious. 

"Yeah, Mom said the first wedding she brought you to, you vomited all over the bride's dress. And pulled a table over on top of yourself. Destroyed three bottles of champagne." Cass gave him a wry smile. 

"Wow. Little me sounded like a handful." Gabe said, trying to eat takeaway and drink wine at the same time unsuccessfully. 

"That never changed. So, we had just done cutting the cake and all that, and everyone was talking, dancing, doing wedding things, Marie made me a daisy chain tiara, that's my daughter if you hadn't guessed, but while this was all going on, Gabe and Sylvie were meeting the in-laws, and the whole scenario let loose."

"What happened?" Jack leaned in, interest piqued. 

"Well, cousin Jacob, the shit, said something very off colour to him, as I understand it, about our very own Cassie over here. And then, it was jabs about the whole 'gay' thing, and then he..."

"He made some assertions about the lack of a strong male figure in our lives, though not in such polite words." Gabe explained. "And I may or may not have punched him." 

"And then all of the rest of them started piling in, like, at least five to one, and Sylvie got involved as well, and the two of them can hold their own, so I was just watching, and cheering them on a bit. Lots of fun. Eventually, most of it died out, but there were still two people duking it out in the middle , and I look over, and it's Gabe and my new father in law! And things are getting really serious, and like, dirty! And father-in-law-whose-name-i-still-don't-remember-out-of-spite kicks Gabe in the junk and then Gabe actually picks him up and throws him onto a table, knocking over the fancy candelabra! And he doesn't get up for a second, and people started worrying, is he dead? So we're all huddled around him, and I'm emotionally invested, because you know, inheritance money and family pride and everything, and all the while Marie is tugging on my shirt and saying, really quietly 'hey, mommy' and I'm not really paying attention, so she just keeps doing it and eventually I turn around, and the curtain is on fucking fire!" 

"Holy shit." Jack breathed reverently. 

"Holy shit indeed!" Nina agreed. "You are so right, Jack. And I was like JESUS CHRIST IT'S ON FIRE and I turn back, and my father in law is on fire too! He's yelling, everyone starts panicking, the sprinklers go on, the alarm starts blaring and we all end up outside, drenched to the skin and I was like 'so much for breaking the streak'. So we ditched that joint, got Gabey patched up and spent the rest of the evening in a cheap Italian restaurant nearby."

"Wow." 

"Yeah, it was a fun time. Actually went way better than I expected. Did have to reimburse the place for a great deal of property damage but I guess that's just par for the course at weddings." She grinned, holding the outstretched bottle. More wine?"

Jack happily accepted the top up, and was tucking into someone else's prawn bhuna that had been left on the table. 

"Yes to more wine, and no to more wedding stories." Gabe said, holding out his glass. 

"Fine." Said Cassie. "Then how about you tell us about the men in black suits and why they turned up here to tell us you were dead?"

Jack stiffened. "How many days ago was this?" 

"Three. Give or take." 

Nina and Sylvia nodded.

"Then the ones they sent after us were assurance. Good to know." Jack said, and downed his entire glass of wine. 

"They wanted to know about your time in the military." Added Sylvia. "About Blackwatch and any ties you might have retained to it. Or any other non-legal things you might have connections to." 

"What did you tell them?" 

Sylvie shrugged. "Nothing. I wasn't aware of anything going on in those areas, and that I'd call if I thought of anything. I think they believed me. Funnily enough, I don't think they even knew about Nina's stuff, which is odd, because if it were me, family would be the first thing I'd look into." 

"That's because I don't have a record." Nina reminded her. "They never officially charged me for anything, and besides, all their digital files on me have been deleted, so unless they ask the right person, they'd have no reason to suspect me of anything."

Gabe frowned. "And why is this exactly?" 

"You remember that big hacking scandal a while back?"

Gabe's frown deepened. "That was you?"

"Obviously not. But, it weakened the police's digitised system and it diverted focus. Perfect cover." 

"Hey, you didn't tell us about this!" Sylvie protested from the other couch, nearly spilling her rice all over the floor. "You said you were going above board! That sounds pretty fucking illegal to me!" 

"Hey, don't be mad at me, Gabe is the one we're mad at right now! Whatever he's done has to be way more illegal than just deleting a few files!" Nina glared back at her. "I'm not still running the business! Like we agreed! I did nothing wrong."

Gabe's head was in his hands.

"We can talk about this later." Sylvie scowled, and you could tell that yes, there were going to be words about this later, loud words at that. Gabe didn't envy Nina. He didn't envy himself either. 

"Listen, it wasn't intentional. I just took the bus to this town in the middle of nowhere, just to get away from anything, you know?" 

"Buses don't go to Willsdale?” Jack frowned at him. “How'd you even manage that?" 

"Well, I got on a bus and it took me there! Simple as! I didn't know the whole place was full of brainwashed creeps!"

"That's a little harsh. You made friends, didn't you?" Jack looked displeased.

"Yeah, there were some nice folks, even if they were pretty weird. But that's not the point, the point is that the whole town was the site of a major cover-up by this weird organisation-"

"Section 42." Jack filled in. 

"Right, what he said. And I wandered right into the middle of it." 

"You seem to know a lot about this." Nina said perceptively, giving Jack the evil eye. "Care to say why?"

"I used to work for them."

"How recently?" 

"Listen, that's not the point, Nina." He shot her the evil eye as a signal to stop prying. "The point is, we're in major shit, because I'm meant to be dead and Jack is also involved, so chances are, they're after him too. And we need to get as far away as possible as soon as possible, because there is a very real chance that they come after us, and I don't want to die." 

"Oh, well why didn't you just say then? I can help with that." She stood up, and disappeared off into the corridor. 

"Be careful! Gabe called after her. "They might be tracking your devices."

"They can try." She scoffed, and disappeared off into the house. 

Cassie sighed. "She never changes, huh?" 

Gabe shook his head. "We'd be idiots to think anything else." 

"You think Emmett knows that she's still doing this stuff?" 

"Probably." Added Sylvie. "You think she could hide it? No, he knows, and he doesn't have a problem with any of it. You know how he is."

The three of them nodded. 

"So Jack, what do you do for a living?" Sylvie asked casually.

Jack shrugged. "I'm unemployed, as of this morning. But before that I worked in... security." 

"Oh really?"

"Sylvie, he works for the people who are after Gabe. He said that literally a minute ago." Cassie nudged her. "Remember?"

"Oh, right." She nodded. 

"You mind if I ask how you two ended up on the run together?" Cassie regarded Jack with a renewed interest, that made him feel slightly nervous. He couldn't tell what she was thinking. That was usually a bad sign when Cassie was involved.

"I was ordered to kill your brother." Jack said loudly. "And I didn't quite manage it. The order was wrong. But I came close."

"Jack, you don't have to tell them this." Gabe urged him, grabbing his hand, and hoping that would be enough to ward off the responses incoming from his sisters. 

"No, they deserve to know, Gabe, they're your family. This was my fault, so I can't not tell them." He said, steeling himself. 

Oh, Jack. Gabe really didn't know what to say now, and it seemed nobody else did either. They just stared. And Gabe clung tightly to Jack's hand. He didn't want this to be happening. But, on a different level altogether, he felt touched. That Gabe would do this for him, that he felt so strongly about this, and being honest with Gabriel's family. 

"Gabe- couldn't leave town. So we were kinda stuck together from that point on, and- well, I don't really know what else to say about it." 

"We bonded over faking my death." Gabe grinned nervously, trying to lighten the mood. Oh, this felt way too much like when he first came out. 

"Yeah, I guess we did." Jack said and smiled.

"I was meant to leave town this morning, but we were intercepted by more agents, and so we stole their van and made a break for it. And now we're here." Gabe added.

"Was that really this morning? It feels way longer ago than that." Jack squeezed his hand back, and suddenly Gabe was greeted by memories of the library, so close together, the sun shining down in them, almost- 

Gabe went red. 

"Yeah." He said, embarrassed and tried to evade the glances that Sylvie and Cassie were shooting his way. Traitors, both of them. 

It was at this point that Nina chose the fantastic opportunity to barrel back into the sitting room and practically hurl herself at the sofa. 

"Now would be a great time to tell me how much you love and appreciate me, dear brother."

"So much." 

Nina grinned. Then she looked around everyone else. "Hey, did I miss something?" 

Nobody said anything. 

"Well anyway, that's not important right now. What's important is that tomorrow morning at 8:50 approx, a package will be delivered to our house. It will contain a beautiful pair of stillettos. In a discrete compartment in the box there will be two passports, that will belong to both of you. I will collect this package from the delivery guy, and will enjoy the shoes, but will still main an air of anguish. I am in mourning, after all. You two will remain in the house at all times, and stay out of range of the windows where possible. At 12 noon, an old friend of mine will arrive at the house, and will stay for a few minutes. He, or she, will drive you both to the airport, though not by the most efficient route, so as to throw any potential trackers off. You two will check in, go through security, and board your flight without attracting unnecessary attention to yourselves. At 3 in the afternoon, your flight will depart for London Stansted. Please, for the love of God, do not miss it."

Gabe nodded, awestruck. 

"Thank you, Nina. I don't know what to say." He really didn't.

Nina winked at him. "You're so welcome. I'm great. I know. Someday you're going to pay me back for this, because it cost a goddamn packet."

"How much?" Jack asked. 

"You really don't want to know." 

"Well, maybe there's something I could help with." Jack leaned in, over Gabe, which Gabriel tried not to find too distracting. 

"Keep talking." Nina glanced at him. 

"How would military grade experimental weaponry take your fancy?"

"I could work with that." She smiled.

"Wait, really? The fuck, Nina?" Gabe scowled at her. 

"Not now, Gabey. Me and your friend are talking business." 

Great. He rolled his eyes and leaned back, knowing that he was effectively done with the conversation, and all that he could really do now was to not be distracted by the proximity of certain personages. 

"So, what is it you have, exactly?" Nina grinned wolfishly.

"I have a tranquilliser gun in my pocket and two assault rifles in my suitcase. All experimental tech, made by the people at the Overwatch team just before it went down. Outdated, yes, but better than anything you'll see on the market today. The tranquilliser especially. Way more potent than anything you've seen, and it works almost immediately."

That was no lie. Gabe scowled and rubbed at a particular bruise. Ouch. 

"I think I can do something with that." Nina agreed, taking his hand and shaking it. 

"Well, I can't take them on a plane with me, so they're yours." Jack shrugged pleasantly. "I hope they do something to make up the expenses you've paid out for us."

"Oh, I'm sure they will. Which reminds me, I need to take your photo. Passports need those."

"You need a photo of me as well?" Gabe asked.

"Nah, I got some old ones of you that ought to work well enough. Just need one of Jack." 

"That's no problem." Jack smiled at her. Sincerely. God, that was adorable. Did he say adorable? He probably meant annoying.

"Righto."

Jack and Nina both stood up. 

"Hey, if you could show me around your house, I'd be very grateful. It'd help me get my bearings a bit."

"No prob, Bob." Nina said, and took his hand. She led him out of the room, and then it was just Gabe, Sylvie and Cass. 

Heck.

They looked at him. 

"I think we should talk." Sylvie said sternly. 

Ohhh, Sylvie didn't do stern. Ohhhhh, this was so bad.

"Sure thing." He agreed. "How's life, Sylvie? The kids doing good? Tell Molly I really appreciated the albums she gave me."

"Gabe."

"And Cassie? How are the lizards? And Shrimp? Did they get that job they were applying for? You know the one."

"I do, and yes, they did, they're very happy about it, but you are trying to divert this conversation and it is not going to work." Cassie replied, sipping her wine in the most scathing way that seemed physically possible.

Gabe's shoulders sagged. "Fine. Let's talk." 

Sylvie looked at him with those piercing brown eyes of hers, and Gabriel felt cold all of a sudden. 

"That man out there," She said slowly, "he scares me. And you have a thing for him."

"I understand where you're coming from." He tried to reassure her. "but he's a good guy. He's not going to hurt me."

"There's what looks like a bullet wound on your ear that looks too old to have been from this morning, and that tells me that yes, he is dangerous, and he could easily hurt you again."

Gabe shifted uncomfortably. 

"Can you tell me that wasn't him?" She asked quietly.

Gabe said nothing.

"You see why I don't trust him?"

Gabe did. 

"I do. And he is dangerous. But I swear to you, that's not everything, and you weren't there. You didn't see what I saw. There's nothing that could happen right now that would make him hurt me. He risked his life to protect me, Sylvie. We've been through a lot together."

"I'm not saying that you haven't, Gabriel. I'm just saying, whatever you may know about him, I don't. And I want you to be careful. You've gotten yourself into something really fucking serious here, and I think we all know that this might not end well. So please don't take any risks that you don't need to, because I'm not ready to lose you." 

"Sylvia." He breathed. 

He had been an idiot. And he was still being an idiot. He hadn't taken anything seriously enough. He never had, and that had been okay, but it mattered now, more than anything that he was serious about things. He couldn't just breeze through this. Everything he did mattered, and any mis-step could hurt the people he really cared about. He really shouldn't have come here, but it was too late for that. 

He would just have to do his best where he had ended up.

"Oh, fuck this." Sylvie muttered, and went to sit next to him, wrapping her arms around him. They were strong arms. She was crying again. 

"Don't cry, Sylvie." He whispered to her, holding her close as she wept into his shirt. 

"You know I can't help it." She sniffed. 

"I know." 

"We're doing hugs again." Cassandra grumbled, but joined them soon enough. 

"I hate hugs." She said.

"I know." 

"I'm making an exception." 

"I know."

"Hmmph." She said, as Sylvie wrapped an arm around her. 

The television was on, but it was on mute, he noticed. How long had it been on? He hadn't been paying attention. 

"You know," Said Cassie, "You should talk to Nina, alone. She really didn't take this well. And she's been way too cheerful this whole time."

"I noticed. Thought the alcohol might have had something to do with it."

"It has, but she's also just doing that thing she does when she's upset. You should have seen her these last few days. Absolutely refused to believe that something could have happened to you. Emmett and Marie don't even know you went missing."

"That bad?" 

"That bad." 

God, Gabe felt like shit. Worst was that nobody else was to blame but himself. 

"Ah, but you can do that tomorrow. It's late, and I think she'll be preoccupied with your new man for quite a bit." Cassie patted him on the shoulder, giving him a little half smile that beamed understanding. 

"He really isn't mine, you know. We're not dating." Gabe reminded her with a sigh. 

"Let me guess, you both like each other, but neither of you wants to say anything and ruin the whole weird friendship relationship thing you've got going on."

"Are we now?" He said sarcastically. "Not like I would be the first person to know about it."

"Gabe, you are the last person who knows when you like someone. Remember when Jake Wesken sat next to you in math and you would not stop telling all of us how annoying he was, so much that Mom was thinking of having you change classes? And then he asked you out and you said no, before spending the next week crying about it and wouldn't turn up to math class?"

"Vaguely." He responded. "And what's that got to do with anything?" 

"You don't see any similarities there? None at all?"

"I liked Jake, and I like Jack. That's where the similarities end."

Cassie looked surprised. "Then you admit it? You like him?"

"Give me some credit here, Cass. I may be a bumbling idiot who's terrible with relationships, but I'm not that bad." 

"News to me, but I'm proud of you." She smiled, punching him playfully in the ribs. 

Gabe yelped in pain.

"SHIT! SORRY!" She flinched away. "Did I hurt you? Fuck."

"I am just a little delicate." He wheezed. 

"Okay!" She retreated to the edge of the sofa, out of arm's reach. "Sorry. But, tell me about Jack. I want to know what kind of a person he is." 

Gabe sighed, leaning back, a hand clutched over his still bruised, maybe even cracked ribs. "Right. Well, he's very annoying. Really annoying. He's on his best behaviour today so you wouldn't know it but he is so irritating you would not believe."

Cassie rolled her eyes. 

"What?"

"Nothing, carry on." 

"Right." He said, not willing to pry further. "Well, among other things, he's also a dreadful cook. From what I understand he lives on a diet of almost exclusively ready meals. I don't know how he's still alive. He has a big, really old house, and it's full of books, and there's an old tv with a stack of disney vcrs next to it. He has a lot of old photos, and some of them have him in, and he looks terribly young. Natural blonde, I think. He looks different now, but you can still tell it's him, particularly when he smiles. He has very irritating smile. All his clothes are hideous. And he really hates my taste in music. He can be pretty grumpy at times, and not very tactful, but he means well enough. Even when he was still doing his job, and he was trying to figure out if I had been sent by some kind of organisation. most of the time he was a real terrifying hardass, but he- had his moments. Good moments. And I think he was having more difficulty with what he had to do than he let on."

"Steady on, I barely processed half of that. You went too fast. I mainly just got 'he's an annoying, grumpy asshole' and 'i think he's really cute'." 

Gabe huffed. "Well, I mean, I guess- yeah, that is what I was saying, isn't it."

"Yup." Sylvia and Cass agreed. "That's exactly what you were saying." 

Cass patted him on the shoulder. "You done anything about that yet buddy?" 

"No." Gabe admitted. "Not sure I'm ready to be honest." 

"Aww." Sylvie said, and hugged him tighter. She was like a really buff tree frog with lipstick. 

"I mean, we were in his library together, and he gave me a volume of Dante, and I think, we almost kissed? I could have been reading too far into things, but it felt like that was definitely a possibility."

"Then what happened?" 

"Well, then these agents arrived, and Jack distracted one of them and I shot them both, not lethally though, and we left them in the living room and ran away in their van."

"Damn." Sylvie whispered.

“Yeah, it wasn’t ideal. But, I don’t really know if I was going to kiss him back, so at least this gives me more time to make up my mind, right?”

Sylvie nodded. “Just make sure you don’t rush into anything you aren’t ready for, okay? I don’t want to see you get hurt, and you already look pretty bashed up, so promise me you’ll take care of yourself, okay?”

“I will do my very best.” He assured her. 

She brushed the hair away from his face and frowned. “How the hell did your forehead get grazed?”

“I fell from a window.” 

“Dare I ask how?” 

“Oh, we were trying to avoid being spotted by these agents, and we were in a coffee shop, and we kinda had to- crawl through the bathroom window.” 

“You know, I am surprised exactly how little this surprises me.” Cassie murmured. “You are a walking disaster.”

“I am.” He agreed. “I am a human disasterpiece. Cataclysm on legs. A really small, accident-prone Godzilla.” 

Cassie snorted. “Sounds about right.”

Gabriel leaned his head against the back of the sofa, trying to ignore how much his eyelids kept trying to close themselves. He could feel exhaustion setting in. It had been a very long day.

“You know what?” Sylvie said, springing up from her seat. “I’m going to go check on Nina. Make sure she and your friend aren’t getting up to anything illegal.”

“Good luck with that.” Cassie added as she hurried from the room. “Watching her trying to keep Nina on the straight and narrow is like watching an ant trying to play chess.”

“You’re right there.” Gabe agreed. “But at least she tries. That’s something, isn’t it?”

“I suppose.” Cassie agreed. But ‘something’ isn’t enough. And it’s not going to get any better with you away. And you know, just for once, I would have really liked getting an email, or a text or something, saying, ‘hey, i’m going away for a while, here’s where I’m headed, be back soon’, Gabe. Because not being sure whether or not to file a missing person's report is getting very tiring, and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to keep doing this. I just don’t understand you, Gabriel. Is it really so hard to tell your family when you’re going away?”

Gabe grimaced. “I know, Cassie, and I’m really sorry. But sometimes I just need to be away from all of this.”

“Then why not just move somewhere different like me and Shrimp did?” 

“Because this isn’t about me needing to avoid my family, Cassie, it’s about me needing a goddamn break, and whether or not I live near Nina and Sylvie, I’ll still have the same old life, the same old job with no real challenge, the same three friends, and not looking forward to anything but going to sleep. Having a little spontaneity in my life makes that so much easier to deal with.”

Cass leant her head on his shoulder. “See, now you just sound depressed. Maybe you should see a therapist?”

“You and I both know I’m not depressed. It’s something else, Cass. It’s the routine.”

“Routines can be changed.”

“And when I change that routine it becomes a different, but equally constricting routine. It’s not like a new job or a nicer flat would change that. I just wish my life was more than this.”

They went silent for a long time, in the well lit, attractively decorated apartment that telegraphed just how much more each of his sisters had found comfort and stability in their lives than he had. It wasn’t just the fancy TV, or the sparkly light fixtures, or the collection of Marie’s discarded possessions tucked into every corner. It was how much more this house felt like home than his own apartment. It was that missing thing that Gabe just couldn’t put his finger on, no matter how hard he thought about it. 

“Maybe you should get a pet.” 

Gabe laughed. “And that’d solve all my problems, right?”

“Either that or you try yoga.” 

“You know, you are worse than Sylvie. Next thing you know, you’ll be inviting me along to pilates classes and sending me smoothie recipes with Kale in them.”

“Oh don’t get me started on Kale! Shrimp is going on a health kick at the moment, which means I have to go on one too, and I swear, Kale is going to kill me. It is the bane of my life, Gabriel.”

“That bad, huh?”

“What, do you like it or something?”

“Never tried it.” He admitted.

“You lucky man.” Cassie scoffed. She picked up a wine glass. “Here’s to consuming as little Kale as is physically possible.”

Gabriel clinked his glass against hers, and finished off his glass of wine. It really was good wine. Emmett had good taste. It was a shame that he wasn’t here right now. He was Gabe’s favourite brother in law by far. 

“Jeez, is that the time?” Cassie said, looking at her watch. “You must be pretty tired.”

Gabe yawned. “You have no idea. I could sleep right here.”

“Well, you’d better go to bed then.” 

“I should probably wait for Nina to get back.” He shrugged. “It’s her house after all.” 

“Every time you stay here you stay in the same room, Gabe.The wardrobe has your clothes in it.” 

“Does it matter?”

“Well, I mean, you could cut out the middle man and go see what she’s up to. I’m probably going to turn in for the night anyway.”

“If you say so.” He agreed. “Should probably check on Jack as well. Who knows what the two of them could be getting up to by now.” 

Taking Gabe by surprise, Cassie leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. 

“Goodnight, Gabe.” She said as Gabe got up, leaning over so that she was taking up the entire sofa.

“Night, Cassie.” He wandered over to the door, unable to wipe the grin off his face. Affection from Cassie was a rare commodity. She must really have missed him.

Right, where in the house could those three have gotten to? All the other lights on the floor were off, and it was conspicuously quiet. Nina did not do quiet. Gabe headed upstairs, passing by the shelves of postcards and photos which featured pictures of Nina in the hospital, cradling an impossibly tiny looking baby, photos of a beach far away with seven year old Marie wearing a wetsuit and grinning sandily, two parents and an uncle in tow. Older ones, too. There was Emmett’s graduation, Nina and him at a fancy dress party, looking so, so young. There was even one in the corner which boasted a different family. Christmas in a house that had been emptied, bulldozed in favour of luxury apartments some twenty years ago. A girl in broken glasses scowled at her sister, a mother who still looked so happy held her youngest, a red-faced baby in her arms, beside a son who had just hit puberty and was trying his hardest to look happy about it. Their father was taking the photo. He had been so enthusiastic about documenting his family that it became impossible to find any photos that he was actually in. But, Gabe supposed, that was how he would have wanted it to be. How it was meant to be. He had accepted it, made his peace with it, but ever since then he had strived to make sure that nobody got missed out in family photos. 

But he didn’t have the time to dwell on it, nor was it a healthy thing to do. He glanced left, to a light radiating from under a closed door. As he pushed it open, he saw Nina sprawled over her bed, laptop in hand, Sylvie curled up next to her. Jack sat at the end of the bed. 

“And how do you know all this?” Sylvie said, voice hushed. 

“Well, I was actually stationed there at the time. I was the only one there who was properly trained, the rest were all fresh-faced and new, so there I am, trying to hold down the payload by myself with a trainee field medic, our team is nowhere, and some idiot who seemed to think he was a ninja kept screaming over the voice channel whenever a bullet even came near to hitting him! Whole thing was a disaster- we got the job done, but at what cost? Luckily I got re-posted back to the US a few weeks after, so I didn’t have to be ‘team dad’ for much longer.” 

Sylvie giggled. “I thought you said you enjoyed it!” 

Jack shrugged. “It was, in a weird way. Stressful though. If you’re out on the battlefield you want to be sure that your team is competent enough to be there.”

“Oh, I know the feeling, I had to be a parent volunteer for a school trip to the zoo a few months back, and I swear I would have rather been corralling the monkeys than half of the children there. They were animals, I’m telling you. Thank God the PTA don’t want me back.” 

“Wish I could say the same.” Gabe butted in. “I still get texts from them asking me if I’ll help build the Santa’s Grotto. Even after the Sharon incident.” 

Nina laughed. “But that was so funny though! I’ve never seen you so embarrassed in my life! Except maybe that time Jessie Fields’ mom asked you out. That was pretty awkward.” 

“Don’t remind me.” Gabe groaned. 

“What’s this now?” Jack raised an eyebrow, that lewd grin back on his face, and Gabe didn’t know whether to feel touched or annoyed at how well Jack was getting on with his sisters. 

“Nothing you need to know about.” He said, before either of his sisters could say anything about the matter.

“See, now I’m intrigued.” He insisted. 

“Well, back when I-”

“No, we’re not doing this.” Gabe insisted. “Please, Nina. Spare me.” 

“And why should I? This is a rare opportunity, Gabe. He knows like, no embarrassing stories about you. It is my duty as a sister to fill him in on everything! I mean, who would tell him otherwise?”

“Ideally, no-one.”

Nina frowned. “That’s your opinion.”

Gabe sighed. “Fine. Tell him as many stories as you want, but I’m going to bed now, ok?”

“Ok Gabey. See you in the morning then.” 

Gabe leant over the bed, and kissed them both on the cheek. That was to say, he kissed both his sisters on the cheek. Not Jack. He did not get a goodnight kiss. It would have been weird. 

Sylvie it seemed had already dozed off, and Nina looked more tired than she cared to let on. He looked at them both, and smiled a careworn smile.

“Don’t stay up too late now, you three.” He warned them, stopping before he crossed the threshold of the room. 

Nina pouted at him. “Oh shush, you’re not my mother.”

“Hey, someone has to make sure you’re in bed at a reasonable time, young lady. You promise me you won’t stay up much longer?”

She rolled her eyes at him very pointedly. “You should not be doing this any longer, Gabe. Really. I’m thirty six. I have a kid. I can take care of myself.” 

“Well then, I’m sure a responsible adult such as yourself would have no problem promising to be in bed at a reasonable time.” He smiled winningly.

“Fine. I promise.” 

“Great! Well, night, everyone. Sleep well.”

“Night, Gabe.” A chorus of voices echoed back at him, and it felt odd to hear Jack’s gravelly, deep voice echo against the familiar tones of his sisters’.

He was smiling as he closed the door. The next door along was the spare room where he always stayed, appointed so by Nina after so many years of babysitting, and days out together, and evenings that made the walk home seem too gruelling to bother with. He turned the light on, and looked out over the room, and was greeted with a surprise- it was absolutely full of boxes. And in those boxes? He peered over, pulling the flaps back. 

Full of records. He picked one up and turned it over. Diamond Dogs, by David Bowie. And that slight dog-ear on the bottom left corner, he recognised that. It was his, wasn’t it?

He cursed his frazzled mind. Of course it was his. Who else would it belong to? Though it was weird to see them outside of his meticulous shelving system, and it felt pinching, wrong but just gently, as waves splashing at the subconscious. He thought about his own apartment, how it must look without them, the things that gave it life, and made it different to many identical apartments that he did not live in. It was because he was dead that these were here, filling up a space that didn’t want them. He was dead now, officially, legally. That would take some getting used to. 

Putting the record back in the box, he glanced around, and remembered that his bags were downstairs by the door. He groaned. He was too tired to go and get them. He was also too lazy, because physically, he could actually have done it, but the body and the mind both said no, and there was no arguing with the both of them. He staggered to the wardrobe, pulled open one of the drawers beneath it, and took out his special ‘Nina’s house pyjamas’. They were very distinctive, as Marie had played a very significant part in choosing them. The child had a knack for finding the colour pink in every clothing store, whether or not they were intended for a female audience. He had to hand it to her, where clothing was concerned, she had an ethos.

He struggled out of his clothes, which felt dreadful but still very appealing compared to the ill fated attire that had seen his conflict with Jack. He nearly fell over taking the shorts off, yes, he was that tired. Abandoning those clothes on the floor, he collapsed onto the bed, smelling lavender and the detergent that his sister always used without fail. He was asleep within seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed meeting the rest of the Reyes family! 
> 
> Today is my Eighteenth Birthday, so hurray! I have just gotten my A Level results and am celebrating in sunny Kefalonia with my wonderful family. I hope that everyone reading this who has just finished their A Levels has gotten the results that they need! 
> 
> As always, you can find me at mothdads.tumblr.com, and if you want to send me a friend request on Overwatch, my gamertag is also mothdads, and I'd always like new friends to play with. Be warned, I won't be able to play anything until I come back from holiday.
> 
> Enjoy the rest of summer! Have a fantastic time! I send love and good wishes to all of you C;


	15. Three Cheers for Fake Marriage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe makes the most of home, and his sister drops a bombshell about their cover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can only apologise for how long this took. This was only the first half of what I wanted this chapter to be, and I have written and re-written this entire thing nearly six times now. 
> 
> Thank you for staying, and continuing to read this sad, strange man's writing. Writing for you all is one of the great highlights of my life.

There was sun on his face, mottled pattern against his skin, the sky and the sea and the earth was what Gabriel felt.There was so much within him that he felt like his heart might burst. He had woken up happy. And that happened sometimes, but that was happy as satisfied, happy as a baseline emotion, not happy with exclamation marks and little sparkles at the end. This was happy that made you fingers curl and your chest bump and your eyes feel like they were doing something special and new by looking at the world.

He felt weird.

He felt excited.

He felt gorgeous.

He wondered where the hell he was keeping all these emotions in his tiny little heart. He wasn’t tired, okay, he was a little apprehensive, and he’d be an idiot to be any less nervous, but God, wasn’t it good to be alive today? And light poured in through the window, curtains that should have been closed, but he hadn’t remembered, had he? It didn’t matter, not really.

He was still alive. 

The smell of cooking drifted into the room as Gabe rolled out of bed. Nice, warm, home-cooked food. Now that was something he could get invested in. He headed over to the wardrobe and pulled the doors open, seeing a flash of garish pink as he glanced at himself in the mirror on the back of the door. He ran his hand through the rack of shirts, considering. Somehow he felt inexplicably drawn to one of the pink ones, a very light colour, from his birthday last year. As much as it wasn’t his style, it was criminally soft. Maybe he was feeling just sappy enough to wear it. He fished out a complete outfit from the bottom of the cupboard, and they smelled of detergent and familiarity. 

He stood tall and stretched, ignoring the shoots of dull aching pain that shot through his joints. 

Whistling contentedly to himself he padded quietly out of the bedroom, only to collide with something in the corridor. 

“Hey!”

Gabe stumbled back and blinked twice at the irate figure. A sodden man with red rimmed eyes stared back. 

“Is that… my robe?” 

“Maybe.” Jack said, his nose and cheeks turning slightly red. “Your sister said I could, uh, borrow it. When I took a shower. Which I did.”

Gabriel appraised him, amused. 

“I can see that. Jeez, you’re soaking. Ever heard of drying your hair, jackass?” He ruffled Jack’s hair absent mindedly. Wait. No, that was weird, he wasn’t meant to do that. He wiped his hand on Jack’s shoulder and looked sheepish. Another thing he was glad Jack couldn’t see. 

“I couldn’t find your towels.”

“And you’re just gonna stand here? Dripping on the floor?”

“Yeah Gabe my plan was just to wander about aimlessly and make your floor wet. Because there’s nothing better that I could think to do with my time.” 

“You want a towel?”

Jack dripped irritably at him. “Yes.”

“Right, well, can you wait in my room?”

“Oh.” Jack waggled an eyebrow at him. “At least buy me dinner first.”

Gabe looked down at him skeptically. “This is an expensive goddamn rug you’re dripping on, Morrisson. I won’t have you ruin it.”

“Fine, fine. If you want to make excuses then you can. I’ll be in here.” Jack grinned. “Waiting for you.” He pushed past Gabe into the bedroom, hand just glancing over Gabe’s shoulder. Making him soggy AND embarrassed. Dammit. 

“Die.” Gabe glared at him impotently.

“Then who’d be around to keep your ass out of trouble?” Jack called out as Gabe departed the scene. Ugh. Gabe had almost forgotten how absolutely insufferable Jack was when he was in a good mood. It didn’t bear thinking about.

What time was it? He wondered as he struggled to pull a pile of freshly laundered towels down from the very top shelf of the airing cupboard. How had Nina even put them up here? Every answer he could think of defied at least one law of physics. Either she had used a catapult or Albert Einstein had been very wrong about that whole E=MC² thing. 

They were nice towels. They always were. He had a sneaking suspicion that Emmett actually replaced them bi-monthly with identical copies, because there was no way these things were more than a few weeks old. Not with the amount of calcium in the water. 

Was he overthinking this? No, this was important shit. Towels are, and have always been serious business. This was a pressing issue. Unlike whatever it was he came in here for.

What was it…?

Oh, right. Jack.

Him.

Well, he was an absolute jackass. And as such, Gabe would bring him the nicest towel in the cupboard. Because screw Jack, that’s why. 

He took that most beautiful of towels, the platonic ideal of the bath towel in all its teal striped glory and tucked all of the other ones ceremonially in above the radiator. Then he returned, gloriously successful in his endeavour, towel folded neatly under his arm.

“You got the towel?”

“Sure do.” 

“Right.” Jack checked himself. “Well, I guess you’ll be wanting this back then.” He said, and pulled the cord on the robe, shrugging his shoulders and letting the whole thing just fall to the ground.

Gabe’s eyes widened. Mouth ajar, he dropped the towel into Jack’s open hands.

Jack nodded. “Thanks.”

He started to dry himself with the towel, which did terribly little to hide any of… that. He was very, very naked. It was… wow. 

He looked very hot and very Jack at the same time. He held, beneath that towel a body that had seen a lot, too much perhaps, but had come out on the other side regardless. That burned deep into his retinas. Bullet wounds, stripy twisting scars wrapped around his abdomen, tendrils of red flesh that memorialised some terrible weapon that had been actualised and faded to nothing years hence. None of them removed this man from the beauty that he still held. Not the scars, nor the comical tan lines that striped his body, nor any other etched reminder of how this body worked. In the warm, tempered light of the bedroom he almost glowed.

Gabe had scars too, lines, reminders. Telling him that he was not as agile, as strong, or as thin as he had been. Plenty of them, and he had lived with them, not proudly but he had. Few people had seen him as he was. Few enough saw him at all, as that was the way Gabriel had kept himself. Separate and aloof. To everyone. It had never seemed ideal, but it had been enough.

Not for the first time, he felt insignificant. Small, compared to this beast of a man who seemed so capable, so resilient that he could bare all of that, readily unto the world without as much as a second thought. Who could show his scars, and show them not with pride, or shame, but with complete acceptance. Jack who had carried the weight of so much on his back, who had stayed. Loyal to the last.

Until now that was. 

Gabe belatedly realised Jack was talking to him. Blinching hard he attempted to de-fuzz his brain to hear what it was that Jack was actually asking him. 

“...and since I’m here now, you know, what the heck, it’s-”

“What?”

“I was saying that what with me being in your room and my suitcase being god knows where-”

“What?” Gabe repeated.

“Can I borrow some clothes?”

“Oh, sure. Give me a sec.”

Gabriel pulled the wardrobe door open. He scrabbled around at the bottom for a while looking for underwear, and then waiting for the perfect moment to chuck them at Jack. He aimed…

Fwup. Got him right in the face.

“Gabe.” Jack groaned.

“Shut up and put them on.” 

Gabe scoured the wardrobe for the least ‘Gabe’ looking clothes he could find. Hmmmm. That was going to be difficult if he didn’t want to dress him in double denim. That was a last resort. He needed Jack to look generic. That meant none of Jack’s horrid shirts (thankfully) and none of Gabe’s band tee-shirts (sadly).

With Jack now slightly less naked, Gabe passed him a pair of jeans, a fairly inoffensive tee-shirt and an old blue-grey jacket that he was sure he hadn’t worn in years. Yeah, they oughta suit Jack well enough. Better than the garbage he usually wore anyway. Of the two, Gabe definitely had better fashion sense and dammit, he would fight anyone who said differently. 

This was a statement he saw confirmed when Jack stood up, fully dressed. 

Gabe had definitely done right by him. When he wasn’t dressed like a middle aged jorts enthusiast heading to a Jimmy Buffett concert, Jack looked… sharp. It was easy to forget behind the sunglasses and the bad haircut that Jack was actually handsome. That jawline alone could kill a man, and oh jeez. Those eyes. Gabe was not the type to throw around the word ‘pretty’ idly, but yeah. They were pretty. Jack was…

“You got a belt somewhere I could borrow? These jeans are a bit loose.”

“Oh, sorry. I’ll take a look. Might have one somewhere. Maybe.”

Gabriel dug deep into his cupboard. Pants, tee shirt, shirt, cool necklace with skulls on, and no, none of them were a belt. He stood up, and hit his head on the top of the wardrobe.

“Agh, fuck.” He rubbed his bruised cranium. “No, no belts. Don’t really wear em.”

“Really?” Jack asked. He looked quite… surprised.

Gabe crooked a jaunty eyebrow at him. “...Yeah. Why?”

“I guess I just assumed you did.”

“That’s weird.”

Jack seemed to stiffen. “Is it?”

“I mean, no- or yes. Just that you thought about it to that extent. Hell, I don’t think that much about whether or not I wear belts.”

“Ah.” Jack’s face fell. “Sorry.” 

“Awww, shit you don’t gotta apologise, you just came at me from leftfield is all. I didn’t really think about you, y’know, thinking about what I look like.” A wave of curiosity hit him. “How do you think I look, actually? How do you imagine me? If you don’t mind me asking.”

There was a pause. Jack hmmed enigmatically.

“Well, I don’t quite know how to say that without insulting you.”

Gabe winced. “Ouch. Okay.”

“No, I mean… you can’t put that kind of thing into words, you won’t understand what I’m trying to say and there’ll be things that I’ll be wrong about, and besides. It’s embarrassing, you know.”

Gabe’s heart beat a little bit faster. What did he mean? 

“What’s embarrassing about it?” He asked as calmly as his twisting stomach would allow. 

“Well, what isn’t? Come on, I’ve already embarrassed myself enough just on the belt thing, you don’t need to pry any further, please.” Jack flushed hotly. “I mean, isn’t it enough to have some kind of weird mental image of what your best friend looks like without having to describe it? Ye Gods, Gabe. Leave me with a shred of dignity won’t you?”

It was like a light went on in Gabe’s head. The big, warm sort that seemed to fill his entire chest cavity with goop that still managed to feel so heart wrenchingly Good. Best friend, huh? The concept seemed so endlessly childish and that was never something that would have made it’s way out of Gabe’s mouth but from Jack it seemed so sweet, so heartfelt. 

“I’m that, then? A best friend?” 

“Best friend, only friend, everything I suppose. Does it matter?” He said archly, face still red and flushed and full of bluster. 

“Well, the way you were talking, that makes me think so.” Gabe smiled easily. “Come on, stop standing there like a limp noodle. Sit with me. This bed is comfy and I think we should make the most of it. We might not have this kind of luxury again for a while. And we can just talk. Strictly best friend things.”

“Don’t mock me.” 

“I’m not, Jackie, I swear! Just this once, I promise I’m actually not mocking you.” He took hold of Jack’s hand, which gave no resistance as he guided his ridiculous, perfect friend over to the bed. And their interlocked hands remained together, something unspoken between them.

“It was a ridiculous thing to say. You can’t respect me at all after this. I think everything I’ve done today has been stupid, and I would have been better if I had just stayed in bed. This is so far away from what I’ve gotten used to and I think it’s throwing me off. I’m in a really weird mood.” He frowned. “I don’t know why you sound so sprightly about it.”

“Well, of course I’m happy. I’m home, with my family, just for a little while, and I’m even here with you. That’s a lot of people who I care about all together, and that makes me happy. And I like the earnesty, every so often. I like knowing that you think of me, and I think this- is sweet.”

Jack coughed awkwardly and did not reply, though Gabe could see his face heating up again. 

“Well, seeing as we’re both being horrible and sappy, maybe that’s something I like about you, Jack. How strong your heart beats even under all that exterior. And I think that I will always feel honoured to be considered among your friends, let alone more.” 

His voice faded, unmet by Jack so far. So, he edged up to Jack, just that bit closer, running his other hand over Jack’s, still gently clasped in his own grip, and rested his head down gently on Jack’s shoulder, on that airy day in a room full of boxes that made Gabe feel so happy. 

Jack didn’t move but Gabriel could feel it. They were having a moment.

\-- - --

When Jack and Gabe finally made it downstairs, they were not the first ones. Rather, it appeared that they were somewhat late. As they walked through the door, three sets of dark brown eyes glanced up at them. Sylvia giggled. 

“Ah, brother! Seen fit to grace us with your presence, eh? About time.” Nina grinned at him wolfishly. 

“With the amount you were all drinking last night I didn’t expect anyone to be up that early.” Gabe stated matter-of-factly. “Especially you, Nina.”

“Well, unlike you I actually had important things to do.” Nina leant back on her seat, balancing herself on its back legs, knees tucked under the table. “You’d be in a lot of trouble if I wasn’t around. Here, catch.” She chucked an envelope at him. 

Gabe snatched it out of the air, cleanly and neatly deposited its contents into his hands. Two passports, plane tickets and what looked like a booking form for a hotel.

“Have fun, boys. For the foreseeable future you two are living as Mr and Mr Rafael and John De Anza.”

“Right, cool, cool. Could you not get different surnames at such short notice or something?” Gabe said nonchalantly, perusing his new passport and wondering how Nina had gotten a hold of his spare passport photos. 

“Gabe.” Jack elbowed him. “That’s our cover.”

“What now?” He asked distractedly. That photo made him look like a meth dealer. Did his hair really look that bad? Seriously?

“I figured a couple of happily married gays would seem less suspicious than just two guys travelling together, at least to the people looking for you.” Nina had not stopped grinning.

Gabe looked up. His mouth fell open. “Now steady on-”

“Gabe-” 

“Don’t you ‘Gabe’ me! What the hell are you playing at! Could you not have asked me about this beforehand? There’s a thousand other ways we could have done this, and I just know that you chose this one just to ridicule me! And don’t say anything, don’t you dare try to lie to me about this! Why, Nina?! Why?”

Nina looked down, lips pursed. “Leon’s coming to drop you off at the airport.” 

“Leon? Jesus.” Gabe took a deep, shaky breath. “Okay. I’m going to be calm about this. Okay. Fuck. It’s all fine, I’m fine. We can talk about this.” 

He sat down in the nearest seat and massaged one overwrought hand through his hair. He breathed. This was insane. This was all insane, absolutely insane, Gabe didn’t want to do it, but he would have to. But damnit, what exactly was Nina playing at? She couldn’t still be mad about… *That*.

Or could she? 

“Why now, Nina? Why are we doing this now?”

Nina stared him down. Her eyes were on him like those of a starving polar bear. The atmosphere in the room coalesced, and nobody else said a thing. 

Finally she spoke. 

“This is not how I wanted to see you- how I wanted you to go. You’re going to die out there, Gabs, and I can just tell. We’re all in danger here, every single one of us. You did this to yourself, you keep pulling this shit, and you keep running away from all of it! I don’t get to do that, Gabe! Not anymore! I have a kid and a husband and I have to be relied on, by all of them, and I thought I could finally rely on you. But you’re still stuck, you’re stuck in this constant cycle of staying and running and you’ve hurt everyone, everyone in this fucking room because you just can’t make up your fucking mind! What do you want, Gabe? Because I don’t get it. And so what? I just wanted to see you own up to just a bit of the fuck shit you’ve pulled on all of us. Because you were so, so good, and you are! I love you so much, and you’re the best, most reliable brother in the world until the moment you decide you aren’t.” 

She paused, and regained some composure. 

“I know that we all fucked up, Gabe. I can’t stop myself getting messed up in all this illegal shit, Cassie can barely stand living in the same continent as anyone who loves her-”

Cassandra glowered at her. “Hey.” 

“Don’t interrupt me Cassie, you know it’s true. It took Gabe’s supposed fucking death just to get you to visit me and that’s hot bullshit. And Sylvie punches things for the same reason.”

“Hey, boxing is a respectable hobby! Don’t drag me into this!” Sylvie protested.

“And what about going to bars to get into fights with lairy bigots?”

“Hey, screw you!”

“Oh back off Sylvie, okay? You wanna do this now? Really?”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “You’re both idiots.”

“Shut up, Cassie!” Two voices thundered at once.

“Oh, and you wonder why I never visit you Nina! Maybe it’s because you’re-” 

One voice rang out above them all, authoritative but calm. “Everyone, stop!”

Gabe felt all eyes in the room turn to him.  
“We don’t have the time to be at each other’s throats.” He conceded. “Nina was just trying to illustrate a point, not start a fight. Let’s at least let her finish her point.” 

The three of them quieted at the sound of Gabe’s voice. Nina grinned triumphantly. 

“Right well, ah, what was I saying? Right, my point was, you’re an asshole and I’m gonna miss you so bad, but the thought of you having to awkwardly posture as someone’s husband kinda cheers me up. And for some reason it makes me feel less sick and anxious to think about you being away from all of us for so long. And Leon deserves to see you again, before you leave. He was distraught when I told him what had happened.”

“You told him?” Gabe breathed.

“I did.” Cassandra spoke up. “He deserved to know as much as any of us.” 

“He still cares about you, Gabe.” Sylvie agreed. “He wouldn’t still be in contact with all of us if he didn’t.”

“I suppose that was the right thing to do.” He agreed hesitantly. “I didn’t expect this whole- incident to reach that far.”

Cassie chuckled. “Oh, you didn’t? You do realise that you’re legally dead, right? We have to have a funeral for you and everything. Pretending not to know you’re alive is going to be difficult.”

“That said, I don’t mind inheriting all your stuff.” Sylvie added deadpan, her mouth just twisting at the side up into a telltale smile. 

“Sylvie!” Nina exclaimed, slapping her on the hand. “Wicked! You’re an evil woman!”

“What? I just want his sound system and all those old horror films. It’s hardly a crime.” 

Cassandra nodded. “Shrimp was hoping you’d leave them all your tacky jewellry.”

Well, that certainly sounded like Shrimp. They were in luck, though. He had added that little addendum to his will over a drunken bet over who would live the longest. It was a pity, he had a lot riding on that old death wager.

“You vixens are already crowing over my dead body and I’m not even dead yet.” He let out a melodramatic little sigh. “How absolutely tragic.”

“Excuse me.” A voice caused him to turn around. 

“Jesus, you’ve been there the whole time? I didn’t even notice.” Nina stared up at him. “Well? What is it?”

“Do you all mind if I borrow your brother for a moment? I think we need to talk.”

A smile spread slowly across Nina’s face. “Sure.” She said. “Heck, we were all just leaving anyway. There are preparations to be made. Cassie’s going to get some currency exchanged for your European Odyssey, and I have to dig up some old flip phones for the both of you. You two- do what you have to do.” 

The three of them left in complete synchronicity, as Nina waggled her eyebrows at him and Cassandra began complaining about something spurious. 

Gabe looked at Jack. Jack looked right through him. 

“Don’t forget your breakfast! Most important meal of the day!” Sylvie reminded them sweetly as she pulled the door to behind her.

And so the room plunged into silence.

“Oh look.” Gabe said. “Pancakes.”

Jack navigated himself haphazardly over to the table and took a seat. 

“Well, that brought me back. It’s been a long time since I got wrapped up in any family drama. Sounds like you have no end of it, even when there’s no crisis from what your sisters were telling me last night. You’re a rowdy bunch.” 

“That’s a fair observation to make. None of us are really the quiet type, though God knows me and Nina are the worst.”

“Mmmm.” Jack agreed.

Gabe helped himself to one of the pancakes piled up in the middle of the table. Would he ever tire of pancakes? He thought not. 

“Sooo. This Leon fellow. Close to you?”

Gabe nodded curtly. “He was.”

“So, what? Who is this guy?” Jack demanded as Gabe dropped a few pancakes onto his plate. “Family friend? Weird uncle? Estranged brother? Im curious.”

Gabe could’ve laughed. 

“Brother? No, no not quite. My fiancé.”

He watched with mild amusement as Jack managed to choke on his own breath.

“Engaged? You?”

“So hard to believe, Morrison? Surely it’s not too far-fetched.”

“You never mentioned a- a fiancé!” Jack spluttered, mouth hanging open in abject horror. “I wouldn’t’ve- I thought you-”

“Oh, calm your jets. The marriage is off. Has been for years. We’re more ex-fiancés but that's a mouthful to say.”

“You live exclusively to make me feel confused and slightly guilty, don’t you, Reyes? For a second there I thought I was stealing you away from a loving family AND a devoted lover. Don’t much like that.”

“Aww, sweet little Jackie was worried about ruining my relationships.” He teased. “Don’t you know I’m more than capable of doing that on my own.” 

“Do I sense a story there? Come on, spill the beans, I’m interested now. Don’t let a guy down.”

“Well, it’s not much of a story really. It’s funny, but-” 

He considered. “It’s actually not funny. At all. But, you know, I’ll tell you and all.”

He reached out a hand to touch Jack’s over the table but Jack pulled away from him.

“Just answer the question, okay?”

“Fine. Well, it was… it was just something that happened, you know? I left him. That is…” Gabe’s face burnt with shame. “Actually, I left him at the altar.” 

“Seriously?” Jack frowned, and Gabe could see even his nose wrinkling in disgust. Yeah, that was the usual response.

“I’m not proud of it.” Gabe said. “It was just- the whole thing was a bit of a whirlwind romance, you see, and then very quickly it was all happening, and we were getting married. His whole family had come over from Europe to be there. I was going through a rough patch at the time, but that’s not really an excuse. I just woke up on my wedding day and I felt so goddamn afraid! And all through the morning the feeling just got worse and worse, and I had to pretend to be so happy, so excited, and then we were at the altar and I just thought ‘I can’t do this’. The same thing, over and over again.” He chuckled morosely. “Totally freaked out. Started having a panic attack right there, and then I just ran. Took a taxi, stayed in a motel, bought myself a plane ticket. Spent two months working as a barista in Melbourne. Nina was so furious about it, hell, nobody but Cassie would even talk to me when I got back. And, I guess that gives you a rough idea of why I’m still single at forty-nine.”

He leaned back in his chair, trying to gauge Jack’s reaction. He was a blank slate though, face totally unreadable.

“So, if I was a little sensitive about the whole ‘marriage’ thing earlier, that’s why. Nothing to do with you, that is, just in case you were wondering.”

No response.

“How about you though, huh? You ever have one you thought of marrying?”

Jack’s face twisted, a myriad of expressions. Finally he selected one and his face fell open, long and morose.

“Yeah, there was one. Beautiful boy, sunny. Dreadful mouth on him though, swore like a sailor. And he was an idiot. A perfect one.” His gash of a mouth curved into a smile. “Him I would have married.”

Gabe grinned, though something twisted deep in the pit of his stomach that he very much wanted to ignore. “Sounds like a sweetheart.”

“My soulmate, I always thought. Didn’t matter in the end. He passed, I lived, and I buried him. Nothing to do with me of course, that’s just how life is, but if I have just one singular regret, that’d be him. If things had been different… he had a lot more to give to the world than I do.”

Gabriel could imagine. He could imagine all of it, some sweet, saucy sunshine boy, and Jack just watching, admiring from inside safe shadows, lovelorn and beautiful. With those eyes that people always seem to get when they’re cripplingly in love. It sent a pang of longing through his body that he did not want to address.

And Jack leaned in, heavily against the table.

“A whole generation of heroes, and all that’s left are the soldiers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much all. I've pulled a good few late nights to get this actually finished, but it's worth it, right? 
> 
> I'm trying to get this whole thing done by April. We're at least halfway through now, so I have high hopes.
> 
> Also, I now have a specialised writing blog! It's mothdads-writing.tumblr.com (unimaginative i know :'3) and I have some deleted material from this chapter as well as bits of my current novel, FRAT. And you don't have to look through 5 years of terrible blogging to find original content! Hurrah!
> 
> I love you all. Hope you enjoyed this, and have a good day.


	16. Hot Patootie, bless my soul.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe leaves home, and gets to spend a little time with his Ex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, I know, but take this as an apology chapter for being M.I.A for so long. Please forgive me. We ought to be updating fairly regularly for a while, because God knows i'm best at writing when I have a million other things to be doing.

It was time.

It was time and Gabe hated it, holding all of his sisters close when that final, fatal knock at the door came. Just like that, as Sylvie slipped under his arm to open it, he truly felt it, like someone had tied a breezeblock to his heart, and it was so hard to keep on. He had lost them. 

All eyes turned, away from their last scene, Sylvie padding towards the door in half time, Cassie and Nina still curled around him and Jack sitting a fair distance away on the stairs. 

A ray of bitter light fell into the scene. Gabe knew, of course he did but to actually see the sight set before him was like a punch in the gut.

Leon’s eyes raked over the scene, over expensive walls and vases and paintings, and then: Gabe. 

He dropped his car keys.

“No…” The breath came out shakily, eyes widening as his mouth forced out those syllables. “Gabriel…”

The door slammed shut behind them.

Gabriel grimaced. “Not dead. Sorry for worrying you.” 

“Oh you… You have no idea.” But slowly, resiliently, that sweet mouth curled itself into a smile. 

He laughed. “You know, you really had me that time. Can you believe I actually thought you were dead?”

“I…” It was Gabe’s turn to be lost for words.

“Right, well.” Leon picked up his keys, stuffed them back in his pocket, and strode past all of them along the corridor. “I’m going to get a drink and one of you is going to explain to me What the Fuck is going on, ok?”

“Leon no! You need to drive!” Nina pursued him hurriedly.

“I can drive drunk!” Leon called back, impassioned. “Or, I can sit here, drinking your expensive wine while you tell me why the fuck you think it’s ok to lie to me about something like this!”

The door to the kitchen slammed, and almost instantly the sounds of loud incomprehensible bickering resounded.

“Sounds like a keeper.” Jack said.

\-- - --

It had taken a long time to bring Leon round and convince him that no, this was not a ploy to get the two of them to hook up. This was particularly difficult given the number of times Nina had tried to do just that. But, Leon knew them, and at the very least, he knew that neither of the three of them was any good at acting. So, after a while he accepted it, and there was a lot of pacing, arguing, woefully inadequate diplomatic attempts, and finally an agreement was made.

Now they sat together in the car, Gabe and Leon in the front and Jack in the back, something that Jack had actually insisted on. That was odd, naturally, but they didn’t have the time now to discuss it. 

“Right, boys.” Said Leon with all the intensity of someone who worked as a substitute teacher part-time, which he did. “Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three. What are your names?”

“Rafael De Anza.” Gabe heard his voice ring out over Jack’s as he too parroted back his new name.

“What is your quest?” 

“To celebrate our wedding anniversary in London where we were both posted during the War.” Both of them repeated.

“What is the long-winded story are you going to tell people when they ask about how you first met?”

Gabe drew a loss. “Uhhh…”

“Well, we were posted in the same base but never actually met until I got into a fight with him in a pub near Islington.” Jack suggested. “And then we just kept bumping into each other in the most unexpected places before I got myself together and asked him if he wanted to get drinks together.”

Leon nodded. “That ought to do it. But remember, when you do explain it, give them all the unnecessary detail. Overshare. Make it so they really don’t want to keep listening to you, and maybe even regret initiating the whole encounter. You need to make it painful.” 

“Got it.”

Leon smiled. “We’ll make actors out of the two of you yet. So, tell me. How long have you two been together?”

Jack coughed loudly. “We’re not.”

“Whaaaat? Seriously? I thought for sure…” 

Gabe just shrugged, and try to avoid looking when Leon winked at him. God damnit, he knew. He knew Gabe was crushing hard.

Shit. He really did have a crush on Morrison. 

Oohhh, none of this felt good. 

“Right, well let’s have some music, shall we?” Leon suggested airily, like he hadn’t just inadvertantly caused Gabe to have a very awkward realisation about himself. 

That he liked Jack. That he felt drawn to the man, wanted to be close to him, so very close not just emotionally but in proximity too. That moment, alone in his library together clutched itself around his brain. 

“No takers then? Tough luck. We’re having music anyway.” He poked the stereo button and jolted as the car speakers began blasting out the lurid tune of the time warp into the car.

“Chyort!” Leon yelled, furiously twisting down the volume knob. “Sorry! I must have nudged the volume up.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Gabe scowled. “It’s like you’re trying to draw attention to us or something.”

He turned to the back of the car. “You okay Jackie?” 

Jack removed his hands from his ears, but to Gabe’s relief, his face spread into a warm, rare smile. 

“Hey, is this Rocky Horror?”

“It sure is, amigo! You’ve seen it?” Leon looked like the cat that had got the cream.

“Seen it? I love it.” Jack confirmed.

Leon tittered happily. “You know, I was in Rocky Horror Picture Show. Not the original, obviously.” He added hurriedly. “A production of it.” 

“You act?”

Gabe nodded appreciatively. “Sure does. Leon here’s a regular star.” 

“Really?”

Leon snorted. “Hardly. But I get by. Got a big part in this TV Drama though, Omnium 13. Ever heard of it?”

“No.” Jack admitted honestly. “Doesn’t sound much like my thing.”

“Fair, fair. Wouldn’t be mine either, but I’m the main villain next season so that doesn’t really matter.”

“Ah. Right.” 

“But yeah, Rocky Horror, that brings me back. It was just after me and Gabe started dating, and honestly? One of my favourite parts. Ever.”

“You were the best Brad.” Gabe agreed proudly. There was still a glimmer of that, deep down. Times could change and the years faded behind him, but he was still proud of Leon. He had always deserved the best.

“Well, you were not bad as Eddie either.” Leon looked at him warmly, and they exchanged a glance. 

“Eyes on the road, cowboy.” Gabe reminded him kindly. 

“Hey, hold on a second.” Jack interrupted. “You played Eddie? You didn’t tell me that.”

Gabe blushed. “I didn’t really.”

“Yes he did!” Leon insisted. “Our Eddie got ill, and Gabe filled in for him for the last three weeks of the show. And he was great.”

“Was not.” 

“Was too! Put me to shame, absolutely. He was the best part. You should have seen him out there in all that denim and leather, singing his heart out. Then again, you were no stranger to leather and makeup back then were you Gabe?”

Gabe blushed even harder. “Don’t take that out of context, Morrison. I was in a metal band. Not a leather daddy.”

“You sure about that?” Leon suggested mischievously. “I could’ve sworn you were, you know.” 

Gabe groaned. “No… Don’t listen to him Jack! He tells only lies.”

“Hmmm.” Jack looked unconvinced. “What I’ve heard of your fashion sense tells me something else entirely.”

Gabe sighed. “You hateful men are conspiring against me. This is unfair.”

“Tell you what.” Leon smirked in a very unpleasant way. He had an idea, for sure and Gabe was almost certain he wasn’t going to like it. “Since we all know the words… Singalong? Make the journey go quicker?” 

“Come on now-”

“I think that sounds great.” Jack agreed.

“Oh please don’t-”

“Two to one, Gabe.” Leon grinned and skipped through the next few songs. “What a surprise! It’s your song.”

“Gabe?” Jack asked then, and it sent a pang right down to Gabe’s heart, how softly he said it.

“Fine.” He allowed. “But only because it’s you.”

And then that familiar tune washed over Gabe and, alas, he started to sing. 

“Whatever happened to Saturday Night-” He sang. “When you dressed up sharp and you felt alright.”

Leon and Jack cheered him on.

“It don't seem the same since cosmic light came into my life, I thought I was divine!” 

And Gabe sang, and sang, and the whole car came together into one big, stupid chorus, as the three of them sped along the freeway towards the airport, and the future contained within its great glassy maw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me at mothdads-writing if you want to ask a question, or keep up to date with the writing of this little fic.
> 
> Have a good day, and always try to remember to close the fridge door.


	17. Passport Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Gabe arrive at the airport and assume their new identity as husbands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a feeling you're all going to like this one...
> 
> If you look at the posters in the Hollywood map, you see one with Reaper's original Halloween skin credited to Rafael De Anza. Hence, where I got the name.

Jack and Gabe did not want to be caught out in the open any more than a snail wants to be eaten by a hedgehog. As such, the two of them hurried into the airport , with only a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek from Leon to mark their goodbye as the two of them beat a hasty retreat into the international waters of the airport, neither of them sparing a backward glance to the country that had fostered both of them for so long. 

As they trundled through the great metal expanse of the airport, Gabe fancied that they really did look the part that they were playing. Once again arm in arm, their mismatched suitcases following side by side. So close to being a couple, and yet so, so far. 

Gabe scoured the huge open room for check-in area F, their first of many upcoming destinations. 

“So.” Jack said. “Do you still have a thing for Leon or what.”

“What?” Gabe said, almost inadvertently.

“Come on, don’t act like I couldn’t hear all that. You two were practically singing each other's’ praises the whole way here. The both of you get on like a house on fire. People who don’t still like each other don’t do that.”

“So what? I’m proud of him. And I like him. We wouldn’t have gotten together if we couldn’t stand the sight of each other. Doesn’t mean I want to be With Him.” Gabe protested. “Come on Jack, sorry, John. What’s up with you right now?”

“You sang Dammit Janet as a duet and didn’t even complain. You wouldn’t sing for me if I asked. Am I wrong to see a difference there?”

“Well first off, yes, because I was singing for you, and you did ask, remember?”

Jack scoffed loudly, but Gabe could see his ears redden.

“But you regret skipping out on the wedding!” He insisted loudly.

“Wouldn’t anyone? It’s a shitty thing to do.”

“But you-”

“I’m gonna cut you off there with a ‘No’. Seriously. I am actually very happy not being married to him, just as I am sure that he is very happy being married to his cute new husband. Trust me when I say there’s nothing there, ok?”

Jack, quite rightly, looked embarrassed. “Right. Okay.”

“That take a weight off your mind, Jack?” Gabe smiled at him, noticing and oh, enjoying that look of relief flicker across Jack’s face. 

“Besides,” He teased. “Aren’t I supposed to be making a big fuss of my own husband, eh John?” 

Winding an arm around Jack’s waist he pulled him in closer. 

“It is our anniversary after all.” He smirked and, leaning in, kissed Jack square on the lips, feeling his body shudder against Gabe’s own form. 

He pulled away and winked.

“Gabriel,” He said nervously. “Wh...”

“I’m just trying to make it convincing.” Gabe insisted, patting his partner on the back. “You know.” 

“I- yes, I, I knew that. You’re making us conspicuous, asshole. That teenage girl over there keeps glaring at me like I kicked her puppy.”

“I would postulate that seeming unconcerned about being conspicuous actually makes us seem less suspicious.” Gabe suggested with a twinkle in his eye.

“But people will still remember seeing us.” Jack reprimanded. “If we go unseen and inconspicuous nobody would even be considering that we might be suspicious.”

“Ah. Fair point.” He acquiesced, embarrassed. 

“That said,” Jack squeezed him closer. “It’d seem even odder if we stopped acting lovey-dovey all of a sudden.” He nuzzled up to Gabe’s neck, planting a kiss just below his jawline. “Babe.”

“Hahhh.” Gabe shivered, trying not to give any clue of how fast his heart was pounding, his body quivering with electricity at every touch. “Stop.”

“Fine.” Jack said, and withdrew. “But you started it.”

Jack’s arm still found a place to reside around Gabe’s waist, and he was sensitive to its presence. He felt like he was carrying a gallon of water in his legs. He would uhh… probably be thinking about this moment for a while to come.

“You figured out where we’re going yet?” Jack asked unhelpfully. 

“I’m working on it.” Gabe insisted. “It’s not like you’re any help.” 

“Oh I’m sorry.” Jack scoffed. “I’ll work on not being blind so I can help you navigate through this shitty airport.”

“Get on with it then.” Gabe elbowed him in the ribs. “Before I get us any more lost.”

“Hmmph.” Jack said, and kicked him in the shin.

“Ow! Alright, I’m on it ok? Asshole.” 

Gabe glanced around him for anything resembling helpful signage. “I think it’s this way.”

Luckily, through either Gabe’s shoddy navigation or Jack’s terrifyingly precise sense of direction, they did eventually find the check in for their flight, and with more than a few pangs of nervousness, Gabe surrendered their baggage up to the control of the airline clerk, hoping Jack hadn’t left any of those terrifying guns in there.   
From there the process seemed to get easier. They passed through the baggage check with no disruption whatsoever, and then they were on to passport control. 

Now this was absolutely the part that Gabe had been dreading. They stood in the queue which was getting shorter and shorter before them, as queues did, and Gabe knew that it was only a matter of time before their new passports were put to the test.  
In Gabe’s tactical espionage days this wouldn’t have bothered him in the slightest. It had been his life back then, all those years ago, and besides. There was little enough to worry about being caught when you have an international government behind you to bail you out. That knowledge alone had made him confident, and he had never so much as gotten a second glance from any security officer.

There was no safety net behind him this time. Heck, he was the safety net, perhaps the only thing right now that stood between him, Jack and prison. 

Oh jesus. They were next. 

Jack would have to go first, because Gabe was not going to leave him behind for one second. Any degree of separation could cause big problems.

Then the woman in front of them had passed. 

“Next.” The voice called. 

Gabe pushed Jack in front of him delicately, steering him over to the passport desk. 

“Only one person over the line at once.” The man behind the desk droned. “Move back please, sir.”

“Sorry.” 

The man looked Jack over. Oh jesus, oh jesus this could be it for them. This could be the end. 

“Next.”

Jack moved on, fumbling slightly with his passport, and beginning to guide himself away, using the wall as support. 

“Next, please.” The man repeated a little louder this time.

Oh, that was him. Right.

He hurried up to the desk, putting his passport down on the counter. The passport control man took it, and looked him up and down.

“Sorry for getting in your way.” Gabe said weakly. “We don’t fly often, and it’s gotten a lot harder for John lately.”

The man looked down at him, dark beady eyes trained on his skull.

“You’re meant to call ahead 72 hours before you fly if you need special assistance.” He said. “But if you go to that blue desk, do you see the one? Behind me, to the left.” He pointed. “Yeah, that one. They’ll give you a blue lanyard. So we know you might need help.” He passed the passport back under the glass. “Have a safe flight.”

“Thank you.” Gabe nodded gratefully. He hurried off after Jack who was standing aimlessly just after the ticket desk and looking as if he might be in the way of a lot of people.

“Hey.” He said, slipping his hand into Jack’s as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “The passport man suggested I get you a disability lanyard.”

“What for?” Jack sounded unimpressed. “I’ll be fine without.” 

“It could be handy.” Gabe reproached him. “And besides. Adds to our cover. Nobody ever expects disabled people to be capable of cognitive thought, let alone that they’re secretly an ex-soldier on the run from some dodgy military organisation. People won’t give us a second thought.”

“Excuse me if I don’t relish the prospect.” 

“I know, I know, Jackie. I wouldn’t either, but please? If you just go along with it for the like, two minutes it takes then I’ll buy you lunch and we can go duty free shopping?”

“Jeez, fine. But I’m holding you to that, yeah?”

“Right.” Gabe smiled, relieved. “Come along. It’ll only take a second.” 

The people at the desk were friendly and asked remarkably few questions, the woman at the desk even laughing at Jack’s incredibly sardonic comments. To be quite honest, it wouldn’t have bothered Gabe whether they got the lanyard or not, but he had already telegraphed his moves by talking at the passport control. To convey any wavering of his projected character could be potentially dangerous. 

They wandered away with Jack’s shiny new lanyard, in the direction of the duty free. 

“Hey.” Jack broke the relative silence. “So, do people still eat sushi?”

“Huh?” Gabe answered. “I mean, I guess. Why?”

“If there is a sushi restaurant here you are buying me some.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. You promised.”

“Oh did I now? Fraid that’s an agreement I gotta see on paper, hun.”

“Don’t fucking tempt me Gab- RAFAEL. Because I will fight you right here, right now.”

Gabe sighed. “Fine. I’ll check if they have a sushi restaurant.”

“Thanks, Babe.” Jack leaned in closer. “Knew I could count on you. Babe.”

“Stop that.” Gabe groaned. Every item of clothing he was wearing suddenly felt tight and sweaty.

“Stop what, honey?” Jack made a very conscious effort to wink. 

“You’re torturing me. You evil man. I’m going to have a heart attack.”

“Wait until you’ve bought me lunch, ok?” 

Aughhhhhhhhhh. 

The two of them wandered around aimlessly for a while. It was still two hours until their flight boarded. They passed alongside countless stores, Accessorize, W H Smiths, what felt like two dozen different Aeropostales. And then Gabe saw it. Oh no. A Yo Sushi.

“I smell raw fish and rice vinegar.” Jack stated, sniffing.

“Jesus Christ! What kind of a fucking bloodhound are you?!”

Jack shrugged, his mouth just crinkling up at the sides, and oh god, it drove Gabe crazy how gorgeous this man was. 

“Just a hungry man prepared to eat his entire bodyweight in raw fish.” 

Gabe sighed. “Something tells me you are not a cheap date.”

\-- - --

How goddamn right he had been. Jack sat in their little booth with a place already stacked high with little tiny sushi plates, and kept pulling random dishes off the conveyer belt with no concern for what they actually were, what they costed or whether he wanted to eat them. If, upon taking a bite of whatever he had picked up, he decided he didn’t particularly like it, he would pass it to Gabe. There was no method to it, none at all. He didn’t bother to use a palate cleanser between dishes, sometimes starting a new one before finishing his current. Gabe had watched with disgust as Jack had put down his half-eaten california hand roll to eat several pieces of dango and then pick the hand roll up again, as if what he was doing wasn’t probably offending several Shintoist Gods.

“You are definitely the worst person I’ve ever taken on a dinner date.” Gabe complained as he faced Jack’s third discarded plate of sesame seaweed salad.

“I’m afraid I’m not open to criticism. Refill my soy sauce dish.” Jack said, looking as if he did not have two fucks to rub together. 

“Fine.” Gabe picked up the soy sauce bottle and tipped some into Jack’s little side bowl. “But did you really have to ask for a fork?”

“You try eating sushi with chopsticks when you can’t see it.” Jack challenged him. “But, if you really have such a problem with it…”

He put down his fork and picked up his next piece of nigiri with his fingers and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth. “Any better, babe?”

“I am disgusted at you, Jack. I feel like I’d need to baptised with boiling oil just to be able to forget watching you do that.”

“Oh get over it, you whiny bastard. I’m just trying to enjoy my sushi here, ok?”

His leg nudged Gabe’s under the table, sliding up between Gabe’s calves.

Gabe almost choked on a piece of seaweed. “Jack!”

“It’s John, actually.” He corrected. “And I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“That’s too far.” Gabe coughed. “Please.” 

Jack put his leg down. “Sorry. I was just teasing.” 

“Ah, it’s okay. You quite done there?”

Jack nodded. “I think I’ve eaten enough sushi.”

When the two of them emerged from the restaurant Gabe felt both a lot poorer and more flushed than he was when they went in. For a while they browsed the duty free, and Gabe bought himself a headphone splitter and some cheap new headphones for Jack to use on the flight, after a particularly disastrous conversation where Gabe had offered to buy Jack a book or magazine to read on the flight. Jack had just looked at him, very hard, and Gabe had quickly had to change the subject. Luckily enough, he did actually have some podcasts and eBooks stored on his mp3 which ought to be enough to be enough to tide them both over for the flight.

He had also had to stop Jack from buying possibly the ugliest and most overpriced Hawaiian shirt he had ever seen in his life. It wasn’t even in the right size, for God’s sake. 

Now Jack was feeling drowsy, which was believable enough, so they found their way to the right departures lounge and grabbed two seats next to each other, as the room slowly filled up with their fellow passengers. 

Gabe felt a head resting on his chest and looked down in surprise. Jack was sprawled out, legs going in every direction, too long to tuck in neatly under his seat (Gabe was having a very similar problem). He looked exhausted. Gabe silently suspected that he hadn’t slept well at all the previous night.

“S’ been a crazy few days.” Jack mumbled. “Think I’m drifting off.”

“I’ll keep an eye on things.” Gabe promised him. “You take a quick nap.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

Jack murmured a quiet “Thanks.” 

He shifted himself a little further onto Gabe, his head rested sleepily against Gabe’s warm, muscular chest, arm curled around his belly, and Gabe, oh, he could’ve been in heaven. Never mind the dreadful awkwardness of feeling aroused in an airport, which he was doing his very best to ignore, for he would not sully this moment. Feeling Jack, this fantastic man, being so comfortable around him to let himself be so very vulnerable in Gabe’s own arms, he felt like the most important person in the world.   
He felt like a fancy high end cocktail in a way that he really couldn’t put into words but felt burning under his skin, like fruity, alcoholic liquid surrounded by margarita salt. To see underneath all that friendly teasing which was making Gabe so very hot under the collar, that Jack really did trust him was like the effect of a lemon exploding in his brain. 

Because that’s all that this was, wasn’t it? A bit of friendly teasing? Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To think that all these boys needed was an excuse to be so... touchy feely. 
> 
> Secretly, I suspect the both of them have a great deal more on their minds than being stealthy... But hey, this is all for the sake of realism, right?
> 
> ...Right? >:3c
> 
> Find me at mothdads-writing.tumblr.com and scream at me about how much this chapter felt like softcore porn ;3


	18. To Pastures New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no going back now. Gabe and Jack cross the pacific, and also perhaps to a new place in their relationship*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am pulling yet another late night because i am TRULY addicted to that gorgeous feeling of finishing a chapter. Have more senseless fluff, and Jack & Gabe barely managing to contain themselves from full on making out in the middle of a flight.

“Jackie. C’mon, wake up, we’re boarding.” 

Jack groaned loudly. “Already?”

“Fraid so.” 

“Ugh.” Jack peeled himself away from Gabe’s taut frame and sat up, yawning loudly. “This is too much bother. Can’t we just stay here?”

Gabe would have liked to have stayed exactly where he was, and wrap Jack around him once again, stroke his hair as the man slowly fell asleep. But he wasn’t ready to admit that. 

“Just a few minutes and then you can fall asleep on me on the plane. But we gotta go now. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?”

Jack looked at him oddly for a second, and Gabe worried that he had overstepped. 

“Sure.” He muttered, looking away. Then he looked back and smiled, and all sense of worry melted away from Gabriel’s heart.

Nina had done well by them. The seats they had gotten were nice; big, luxurious business class things, one next to the window and the other one in from it. Difficult when one of them inevitably had to go to the toilet but they would burn that bridge when they came to it. Gabe ended up taking the mid-row seat in case he should end up being passed anything despite the obvious fact that the window seat was utterly being lost on Jack. So Gabe craned his neck over Jack to watch as the plane took off, pulling up, away from US soil and into the truly international realm of the sky. 

\-- - --

Despite his convocation back in the lounge, Jack now seemed completely incapable of sitting still, let alone sleeping. 

“You okay there?” Gabe patted him on the shoulder. “You seem a little restless.”

“What are we going to do?” He asked, catching Gabe out of leftfield. 

“Excuse me?”

“When we get to London.”

“Well…” Gabe shifted around in his seat. “When we get there it ought to be morning, so I suppose we’d get some food, track down accomodation, and then go from there.”

“I mean, in the long run.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. That’s what I mean.” Jack scowled. “We’re running out of plan fast. So, if you don’t have any ideas...”

“We could actually just make good on our story.” Gabe whispered to him. “You know. Anniversary. That ought to make us inconspicuous for enough time to lose focus.”

“Yeah, but London’s not a cheap city. You’d hemmorage money and what we’ve got shouldn’t last too long anyway.”

“Speak for yourself. Nina set me up with, uh, quite decent funds for our little trip.”

“She did? Hmmph. Well, that’s certainly generous.”

“She’s getting it all and more back in my will, so…”

“Fair enough. But anyhow.” He said sternly. “I don’t think that hanging around the tourist circuit in London is going to keep us off the radar for too long. We need to make ourselves scarce, and quick. So, I was thinking...” He closed in with a conspiratorial grin. “We do some travelling. Still looks like an anniversary celebration, only this way, we keep moving. We keep in front of my people. The borders are loose in Europe, you can just cross from one country to another. We make ourselves scarce, then, when all this has blown over and we’re outside of suspicion, we fly out to somewhere halfway across the globe, ideally somewhere with a currency weak against the dollar if we wanna make a living of it. Then we could live there, as husbands, off any government watchlist.”

“You mean like this? Do this acting shenanigans permanently? I don’t know if I can do that, Jack.” 

Jack flushed an angry scarlet. “Only in public.” He whispered insistently. “At home we’d just be, you know, buddies. Have our own separate rooms and lives, anything you want. But it’s better this way. Easier.”

“Well, whether or not it’s easier, lying is a dangerous thing, Jack.” He looked around himself to make sure they weren’t being watched. Most of the passengers were caught up in their own lives, but regardless, awake and alert. “I don’t care whether or not you think it’d be a good idea honey, we’re not getting a husky. Those things are hard to care for, you know.” 

“But they’re so cute, hun!” Jack implored him, stretching an arm around his shoulders and bringing him in close, eyes imploring. “Is that a yes or no to the plan?” He whispered covertly.

Gabe nodded. “Yeah well, there are plenty of cute dogs out there who are, you know, lower maintenance.” 

Then lower, almost silently he muttered. “I’ll do it. Can’t think of a better plan anyway.”

Jack beamed at him. “A pomeranian then?” 

Gabe groaned. “Why do I feel like this was your plan all along, John?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, babe.” He grinned. Then: “Hey, I think I hear the refreshments trolley headed our way. I think I’ll buy myself a lemonade. You want anything?”

Gabe shook his head and sunk back into his seat, trying not to think about how the hell he’d manage to keep up this act when every damn interaction with Jack like this seemed to send his heartbeat racing.

\-- - --

 

Gabe had spent at least ten minutes flicking through all of the movies available in-flight and had come to the conclusion that he despised all of them. What a selection it was! Out of dozens and dozens of romance movies he wasn’t convinced that there was even a single good one, let alone one featuring any actual character depth beyond the realm of mildly-sexist stereotypes or any conversation that passed the Belchedel Test. He wasn’t ready to watch a ‘worthy’ film, least not a film that’s only consideration was to let a group of overprivileged Hollywood yuppies pretend to be ethically minded and forward thinking, and of course win their precious oscar. The comedy was by far the worst of all, though. Gabe would personally prefer to saw his own leg off and eat it than watch Daddy’s Home or Ted 2, which seemed to be this airline’s two titular recommendations. 

He sighed, turned the screen back onto the flight map, and looked over at Jack. Ten hours into the flight, and he had consumed what was most likely his bodyweight in lemonade. Irritatingly enough, he was displaying a miraculous level of fortitude for someone with 16 cans of Sprite in them- he had not been to the toilet even once. Gabe was beginning to speculate that he might not be human. Or a living being. Maybe he was just a figment of Gabriel’s own imagination and it was he who had drunk all that lemonade. That would certainly explain his four concurrent bathroom trips.

“Any chance of me getting my mp3 player back in the next three years?” He asked, leaning his chin on the end of Jack’s shoulder, peering up at him.

“No chance. I’m listening to the Carly woman again. Her work is seminal, Gabe. Seminal.”

“You’re not meant to be calling me that right now.” Gabe pointed out. 

“I think you’ll find I said babe, babe. What, you don’t like my pet names?” Jack ruffled his hair.

“Whoa, how do you get that to go so soft? That’s incredible.”

“I shampoo it twice before I condition it. Once to get it clean, once to make it lustrous. It makes a big difference, you know.”

“Oh you’re so wise, baby boy. You know, I used to just wash my hair with dish soap until I was like, 21.”

Gabe wrinkled his nose in disgust. “It must’ve felt like cardboard, why the hell would you even do that?”

Jack chuckled quietly to himself. “I thought that shampoo was only for girls. And nobody ever told me otherwise. I guess they just thought it was part of who I was.”

“You’re definitely a very special person.” Gabe agreed. “I probably wouldn’t have told you to stop either.”

Jack hummed contentedly. “Hey Gabe, tell you what. This Carly Rae whatever her name was is great. But I’ve been listening to the same album for three hours now. Could you turn it on to something else for a while? But not anything metal. Do you have any other, you know, pop stuff?”

“You should have told me when the album started repeating.” Gabe rolled his eyes. “You just let it keep playing? That’s so you, Jack. C’mon, pass it here and I’ll see what I can find.”

Jack continued to run his hand through Gabe’s hair as he selected a playlist, which was honestly very distracting, and kinda made him want to curl up into a ball and purr. Jack was nothing but consummately professional in his willingness to play the devoted husband, and Gabe could appreciate that. But it was still getting too deep under his skin than was safe.

“Here you go. Something else that Molly picked out for me.” 

Jack nodded cheerily. “Your niece has far better music taste than you ever will. Who sings this one?”

“Tegan and Sara. They’re a Canadian pop duo, who are also twins and lesbians. But not for each other. Because that would be gross.”

“Well, if they’re lesbians then I’m proud of them.” Jack said absent-mindedly, his hand full of fluffy hair. 

“Aren’t we all.” Gabe agreed. “Molly keeps giving me gay CDs. I think it’s like, an awkward attempt to find some gay solidarity. Connect with the older generation over things we have in common, that kinda thing.”

“Do her parents know yet?”

“No. And I sure as hell aren’t going to tell them. But I’ve known since she was like, 12? She was talking to me about how all of her friends had crushes on some greasy-ass boyband motherfucker, and how she thought they were all kinda ugly and I thought, oh my god, the kid’s gay. So many things made so much more sense. To be honest, I’m not sure why she hasn’t actually come out to her parents yet, not like she has anything to fear from them. They can handle a gay brother, they can handle a gay daughter, right?”

“You remember what it’s like though, at that age. World is a scary place for a gay kid. All that puberty drama on a whole ‘nother scale than what it’s like if you’re straight.”

Gabe nodded. “True, true. I guess it just makes me sad to see her struggle with it. And to be leaving at what feels like the time she needs me the most.”

“You’re a big softie, you know.” Jack teased him softly, moving his head so close to Gabe’s that he was practically breathing into his hair. “She’ll figure it out, you know. Just like we both did, eventually. And it may have seemed like the end of the world to me back then, but that ended and the world moved on. And hey, I came out of it on top! After all I have the sweetest husband in the world.” 

Gabe’s heart twisted itself into knots.

“Right back at you, handsome.” He nuzzled himself closer to Jack’s chest, never wanting to move from under that beautifully muscular arm, or leave the side of this charming man.

 

\-- - --

 

Gabe fell asleep like that, for how long, he didn’t know. When he pushed back the boundaries of his mind into consciousness, he could hear voices talking over him. 

“Another lemonade?” The Stewardess asked laughingly with all the familiarity of an old friend.

“Actually, I think I’ll just have a water.” Jack’s airy tone rang out. “I don’t think I should go past 20 cans. Might cause me to spontaneously combust.”  
“I’ll have a coffee, actually.” Gabe heard his own voice ring out, groggy and slightly feeble. 

“Would you look at that! Sleeping beauty awakes. Only an hour left to go, hun. Then we’ll be landing.”

Jack turned his attention back to the stewardess.

“Isn’t he just a catch? I’m a lucky man.”

The stewardess no doubt politely agreed. 

“It’s going to be our ten year anniversary in a few days, and I can barely believe it! Doesn’t feel that long at all. Hell, I don’t feel old enough to have been married for ten years.” He laughed. “Right, how much was all that again?”

When Gabe had regained some semblance of consciousness and was chugging down some foul concoction that had the indecency to call itself coffee, he caught Jack gazing at his hand with a somewhat melancholy look.

“Something wrong, honeybun?” He asked, and oh my god was he going over the top with these terms of endearment, but Jack didn’t ever seem to complain, instead only upping the ante. Babe? Sweetheart? Baby boy? God, they were like a bad romance novel.

“I just realised I don’t have a ring. Kinda takes away the illusion, doesn’t it.”

“Tell you what.” Said Gabe, not missing a trick. “I’ll loan you one.”

“You wear rings?” Jack said and considered. “That makes sense, actually. You punch like someone who wears rings.”

“That’s part of the idea.” Gabe said, surveying both his hands for what looked like the most suitable ring. He pulled the owl ring off his middle finger and slotted it back onto his ring finger. That would do for him. Then he selected one, a plain silver band from his other hand, and as ceremoniously as he could for someone with remarkably little arm room, placed it on Jack’s finger. 

“There you go. Now it’s official.” He added, and immediately wondered why he had.

Thankfully it seemed to go over Jack’s head. 

“Thanks, hun. Look, it even fits.” He held it up to Gabe’s face.

“It does.” Gabe smiled wanly. “And it suits you better than it does me.”

“Why do you wear it if it doesn’t suit you?” Jack peered at him inquisitively.

“Heirloom. That was my grandfather’s wedding ring, and he left it to my dad, who left it to me. When I was younger it didn’t fit so I used to wear it about my neck on a chain.”

“Hey, I can’t take that then.” Jack protested. “I’m not going to steal your father’s ring from you.”

“I’m just loaning it to you, silly. You can give it back to me after, but for the time being… It’s yours. Just as long as you’re mine.” He teased.

“I’ll keep you forever, babydoll.” Jack grinned, pulling him into a tight embrace.

“Whats with all the cheesy nicknames? You’re incorrigible.” Gabe squirmed happily,absolutely enfolded by this soft, fuzzy warmth that seemed to exude itself from Jack’s presence. 

“I’m nothing at heart but an old romantic.” He winked, seductive. “And you are my all time sweetheart after all.”

\-- - --

The truth was unavoidable now, he thought as he watched Jack happily show off his ‘wedding ring’ to yet another air hostess. The life of Rafael De Anza and his husband John was far more sweet, more fulfilling than his own had felt for years. He had made a very definite decision not to develop feelings for Jack Morrison, and at this he had failed, now two times over. He had long ago pushed the boundary breaking into crush territory, and now, after less than 24 hours of faking this… this relationship with Jack, 24 hours of simple closeness, those easy touches and cuddles and a few snatched kisses, Gabe had to admit that those feelings went further. He had tipped the scale too far, and had fallen into full-on smitten.

What a pity, he thought, that none of it was real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >;3c
> 
> These boys, eh?


	19. He only wants the truth...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Airports were truly liminal spaces. Gabe wasn’t entirely convinced that anyone he had seen inside of one actually existed Outside of it too. To be quite honest he didn’t feel at all like he himself was real, and he had been pretty sure that he was inhabiting a human body a few hours ago. 

Even still in the confines of the building, the cold pierced his skin. It had been a cold summer here, according to the slightly irritable looking newsman projected onto a big screen above him. They had landed in the rain, a rain that you could hear echoing loud against the high metal roof. 

 

“So where are we headed, darling? Off to enjoy London for the rest of the evening?” Jack wrapped an arm round Gabe’s shoulder, one more sneaky reminder of that tiny half-inch he had over Reyes in height.

“Don’t think I want to go sightseeing in the pouring rain.” Gabe admitted. 

Jack pouted. “Worried about ruining your perfect hair?”

“I suppose. But I don’t think I’m awake enough for exposure to society to tell you the truth. If I were at home I’d be going for a quiet night in.”

“Then where do we go?”

Gabe pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and grinned triumphantly. “I suppose to this hotel we’re booked into.”

A distant smile spread over Jack’s face. “Sounds like you have everything planned out then.”

Gabe shifted his head. “Well…” He said. “We still need to get through passport control again, and I’m going to have to restrain myself from riding the luggage carousel like a fairground ride, but if we can manage all that, then yes.”

The next odd hour disappeared like a dream, clutched tight around his beautiful friend while trying very hard to convince himself that he did not want to jump upon the baggage carousel (he did) and that he did not want to just kiss Jack’s damn brains out (he definitely did).

And then they were out of the airport in the pouring rain then a bus and eventually even a hotel lobby. 

The man behind the counter gave them a look as they walked in, but as the two of them pulled apart and revealed themselves to be webbed with scars and a good five inches taller than him, he appeared to reconsider his position in things, giving them their room key like it was an admittance of defeat.  
“What a dick.” Jack grouched as they pushed the door open to their room. “People can be so unpleasant.”

“Never mind that. Important question, do you want the left side or the right side?” Gabe said, dropping his case and flinging himself into the cosy confines of the bed.

“Oh, hell.” Jack muttered thunderously. “They don’t want us to... share a bed… do they?”

“Well of course they do, dumbass!” Gabe grinned smugly. “They think we’re together, don’t they?”

Jack faltered, face falling. “I can’t do that.” He whispered. 

“Great. I’ll take the bed and you can sleep in the bathtub.” Gabe cheered. “Oh hey! Minibar!”

 

\-- - --

 

Two hours later and what remained of the minibar drinks was yet to be seen. A pile of tiny bottles lay empty on each of their nightstands (Jack had caved eventually and taken the left side of the bed). Gabe stared wantonly at the very last bottle of tiny gin. Then, as any other insensible man mentally preparing to share a bed with a friend who they were infatuated with, he downed the bottle. 

“Jeeesus.” He said, wiping his mouth sloppily. “They’re gonna slap a colossal bill on us for all these.”

Jack leaned in close to him and Gabe’s breath stuttered itself and died in his chest- what was he-  
Ohh. He took the bottle from Gabriel’s hand and sat up.

“Come on now. We’re not going to- fucking PAY for these.” He winked at Gabe. “I’ll show you what we’re gonna do. We’re going to fill all of these little bottles up with water, screw the lid back on and put them back in the mini-fridge.”

Gabe watched transfixed as he poured water from the kettle INTO the bottle, screwed it uptight, and put it down on the side. 

“What about the whiskey?” He asked reverently.

“That’s where the complementary tea bags come in handy.”

“Ohh, you are a genius.” 

“A guy in my squad taught me that. Fantastic guy, he was, Archie. Before the war started he had been quite the party animal. When we were off duty, he used to take me to all these fancy hotels and we would cheat them out of as much money as we could, just for fun.”

Gabe laughed. “Sounds kinda like he was just trying to get into your pants.”

“What? Jeez, of course he was. We shagged like the world was ending. I mean, for all we knew it was. Then he got transferred away, and we were almost merged with Tactical Ops team 13.”

“HEY.” Gabe spluttered.

“What?” Jack shot up, immediately alert. “What’s wrong?”

“Tactical Ops team 13! That was me! That was my team! Holy fucking shit!”

“You’re kidding...” Jack breathed. “You have to be shitting me.”

“Not at all. I speak only the truth, Jackie boy.”

“Then we… We could have known each other.” 

Gabe chuckled half-heartedly. “Just think… us. Both together, in the prime of our youth. Back when anything I did still mattered, back when you…”

He thought of the smiling, blonde haired boy staring irreverently from out the frame of a dusty photograph. 

“I was a different person back then.” Jack admitted softly. “Such an idiot. Fresh and new, and absolutely crazed about love. I wanted everyone to like me, to be their golden boy. It used to tear me apart when I didn’t succeed. I mean, you can’t please everyone, right? You come out of your shell, you try to show someone the very best of your heart, that you’re really trying so hard to be someone good, and sometimes, they just don’t want what you are…” He sighed. “I suppose that bit of me never changed. I still end up desperately latching on to anyone who seems like they really might want to know me, and then when they don’t want what I’m trying to give them, I have to just, you know. Sweep my heart under the rug for a while, and act like it doesn’t kill me to do it.” 

Gabe reached out an arm, and patted Jack lightly on the shoulder. 

“That sounds really rough. If you ever need to talk about it, I’m here for you.” He smiled wanly. “You need a hug?”  
Jack turned his head back to look at Gabe, if he could, his eyes glassy and motionless. Behind them he looked dead.

“Jack-”

“Please just don’t.” He begged. “Please don’t touch me, just… just… leave me alone, okay, Gabe? It’s bad enough that we have to do this, all this- pretending. Sharing the same bed for God’s sakes, it makes me feel ill.”

“Jackie…”

“Don’t call me that.” He implored him. “None of this- none of it is what I want.”

Gabe had to swallow down the lump that had formed in his throat. 

“Okay.” He hissed. “Dammit Jack, if you really find pretending to like me that repulsive you could’ve just said, and I would’ve toned it down. It’s goddamn easy, you just say, ‘oh hi Gabriel do you mind if we tone down the gay for a while’ rather than wait for a whole Goddam day to tell me that you hate being close to me!”

“I don’t hate you, Gabriel.” Jack admitted, true and clear as the droplets of rain that battered against their windows, the raining pressure that Gabe had all along been trying to ignore. “I just wish that we could be strangers again.”

Sullenly, Gabe turned away from Jack and switched off his lamp.

“Goodnight, Jack.” He snarled, and curled himself up into a ball, trying frenziedly not to let any of his long limbs stray anywhere near Jack’s side of the bed. Tears came to his eyes, hot and angry. He wanted to punch something, he wanted to hate Jack for this, but deep down he knew it was nobody’s fault but his own. He had pushed the envelope, he was the one who had kissed Jack in the airport, he had let it all get further and further into the realm of ‘too far’, because above else, he had craved that presence, that familiarity with Jack, every little touch and kiss like it was a drug and he was just addicted. The soft touch of Jack’s flesh, those gentle, old lines of scars, that endlessly smug, insufferable grin drove Gabriel to distraction, and he could not drive the longing from his body.  
He ached, smarted from those words with every fiber of his being. He felt stupidly hurt, and the worst of it was that he knew, if Jack would just reach out to him he would have given anything to hold him in his arms. 

He felt Jack shift on the bed. “You’re hogging all the blankets.”

“So?” Gabe replied tersely. “Not like you’d want a blanket that I’ve touched. Go ask the staff or something.”

“Oh, just stop being an asshole and shift over, will you?”

Gabe rolled over to face him, incensed. “Keep away from me, Morrison. These blankets are on my side, so that makes them mine. Now back off and go the fuck to sleep.”

“Well, I can’t. I’m cold.” Jack huffed.

“What do you expect me to do? Huddle up against you like we’re goddamn penguins? I’ll keep my distance, thanks.

“Fine.” Jack snapped, sitting up. “I’ll go ask for a duvet of my own.”

“You might ask them for a spare head since you can’t get this one out of your ass.” Gabe called after him. “Jerkoff.”

“Right!” Jack yelled. “That is it! What the fuck is your problem Reyes?”

“My problem? My problem?” Gabe shouted back, rising out of bed. “You are my goddamn problem! This whole ordeal is my goddamn problem!”

“Oh how sad!” Jack mocked him loudly. “It’s just so difficult for me to ridicule this poor stupid man in front of goddamn everyone! It must be so hard for you to constantly humiliate me, Gabe!”

“Here’s an idea… Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it, Jack!” Gabe retorted, and yes, he remembered all of it, all those subtle kisses and from where he was standing it sure seemed like Jack had started more of them than he had.

 

Jack’s face turned white, all colour drained from him. 

“No, it was you, it was all you! I would never have dared to do that if you hadn’t just started it, right out of nowhere too! And I tell you what, all of this, the posing as a couple and the best friend shit, the camaraderie with your family, it was all bullshit! I shouldn’t have done it, because this whole thing is fucked! And that is not the kind of thing a friend should be doing, it's bad, it's utterly shit and you know it! Because if you were a good friend, or a decent person at all you wouldn’t let me touch you like that, or kiss you or any of it! I can't let you pretend to love me, Gabriel! You know me, you should have never have even tried this! It's fucking unethical, and we just have to draw the line underneath it because you? You are goddamn torturing me! And worse, you don’t sound like you’re the least bit sorry for any of it! 

Gabriel didn’t understand, and dammit, he was too angry to even try.  
“Torturing you? How exactly am I torturing You? You're all Baby, Honey, Sweetheart, Let me kiss your neck, and initiate fucking foreplay in a goddamn public place, I did no more than YOU were doing at the same time! If anything you were torturing me!”

“God damnit Gabriel you know that that’s different! You started all of that, all of the kissing and touching, knowing full well that I had feelings for you, okay?And I knew that this wasn't what you wanted, but you kept encouraging me and pulling away and I knew that this stupid fucking thing wasn’t happening, would never happen! But you kept acting like it was, and making me feel like this could happen, like it could Ever Fucking Happen between us. But I’m not an idiot, and I’m not going to deceive myself any longer! So fuck you Gabriel Reyes, you smug fucking bastard and fuck all of your charades! I'm done with this!”

JAck strode over to the wall, feeling around for where he thought the door handle was and failing utterly. He kicked at the wall, utterly miserable. "Dammit!"

GAbriel could not help the desolate wave of energy that carried him over to the door, behind Jack and then that hand fell gently against his back, and he was using Jack's old empty words against him.

 

“Jackie, baby boy, please. Calm down. We can talk about this.”

Jack turned back to him, face a mask of smeary, miserable tears. 

“What is there to talk about, Gabe. What could you possibly say to make this feel okay to me.” He asked, but it did not feel like a question, like he truly didn’t believe it could be answered.

“All of it.” Gabe promised, the most sincere he could ever be. “That it happened, that I didn't think about how it was making you feel, that i was being unspeakably cruel, and that i’m sorry. We don't have to do this ever again, and if I have let you down as a friend, I understand that things might not be the same between us ever, ever again. But Jack, please don’t think that it ever stopped being what i wanted. Because I'm a shit goddamn actor, and because I craved every goddamn moment that we spent together like that. You made me feel like the greatest man on earth.”

“H-Huh.” Jack barely choked out the sound, voice husky, unsure.

“Jackie.” Gabe whispered. "I have had feelings for you for more time than I ever wanted to admit to myself, and it honestly scares me how much i like you. Just talking to you makes me feel like my best self. And i know this is a bad time for it, but there is nothing that i want more in this world right now than to hold you. I’m sorry Jack. I’m so sorry.”

“Then do it.” Jack whispered., body quivering uselessly. “Hold me.” 

Gabe wrapped his arms around jack's form, frail yet so robust, and stalwart and masculine, still here at its very most vulnerable, as his body recklessly shudder sobbed its rhythm into Gabe’s heart. Gabriel squeezed him tight.

“Sweetheart, precious sweetheart.” he sang softly. “Please don’t go. I’m absolutely crazy about you.” 

Gabriel held him in that brief, fickle eternity, heart to heart, bodies warm in the cold silence, with no shield. No names, no passports, absolutely nothing to shield them from themselves. Or to divide them. When he was finally ready to be let go, those painful sobs subsiding, Jack pulled away. He wiped his face with his arm, and damply smiled up at Gabriel.

“well i suppose that changes things then, doesn’t it.” He grinned shakily. “You’re as utterly screwed as i am.”

“God I am, Jackie. I can’t- I can’t keep my mind off you. It’s all I can think about.”

“Keep going like that and you may actually kill me.” Jack flushed tenderly. “But at least I’ll die happy.” 

“I’d rather if you lived.” Gabe sighed. “I can’t kiss a dead man.”

Jack blinked up at him, face full of wonder, and Gabe doubted that he had ever felt this good in his life, this unmitigated joy seizing up his limbs, making him anew.

“Come on then, champ. Are you gonna kiss me or what?”

Gabriel couldn’t restrain himself any longer.

Their mouths met in the soft distance and caved in together. Gabriel closed his eyes and let the sensation of Jack's soft, scarred mouth destroy him. He moaned, deep in Jack’s mouth, and he could feel hands cupping his face, desperately clinging like he might wrench them away in a second.

Two could play at that game, Gabe thought, as he wove his hands under Jack’s shirt, tight against his waist, eager to feel that hot skin on his. 

Jack gasped in a breath. “Fuck me, you’re too good at that.” 

Sucking in a quick breath, Gabe closed the distance again, and Jack was kissing him like there was no tomorrow, messy and damp and fantastic, his legs winding themselves between Gabe’s own, pressing up tightly against his crotch, and Gabriel could feel heat rising up in the pit of his stomach. He was pressing forward, more and more, he needed it. He needed more. All he could think of was more of Jack, all of him, every little bit he could get his hands on or rub up against, as their tongues met in the middle of this perfect storm. Jack’s head hit the wall and he kept going, writhing against him, his whole body screaming.

He needed to breathe, but not like he needed this kiss. Air was barely even a priority in his mind, as his hand sunk down to grab Jack’s ass through his jeans, and wait, was Jack still wearing the clothes Gabriel had lent him last morning?

Jack bucked against Gabe’s hips as yet another hand slid down to his ass, and fuck, Gabe was hard. Finally, as his lungs screamed their last he pulled away, cold air washing over him, as he breathed, and oh the world felt so cold without his Jackie wrapped around him.

Blinking back at his newly confirmed darling, he admired his handiwork. A flush had accumulated around Jack’s cheeks spreading all the way down to his chest and probably further, his lips red and swollen, and he gasped in Gabe’s absence the deep moan of need.

“Jack.” He murmured. “Promise me that when tomorrow comes we’re not going to pretend like this didn’t happen. This is what you want, right? Tell me the truth. I only want the truth.”

“I want you, Gabe.” Jack whispered. “And I’ll want you tomorrow as well. There’s your truth.”

Gabe felt a grin spread across his face, which felt just as red and wrecked as Jack’s looked, but not as much as he suspected it would be in a few minutes.

“Bed?”

“Bed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> We're finally here folks! Not the end of the fic that is, but the end of the burn... The slow burn...
> 
> Thinking about creating some separate asides to this, hmm. More Jack & Gabe just being themselves, and maybe an *ahem* continuation of the end of this chapter. ;) If you'd like that, don't hesitate to tell me. I rely on your feedback.
> 
>  
> 
> And thank you to my beautiful darling Raum (raumikins.tumblr.com) for looking at this scene and giving me the confidence to post it ;3 ily honey


	20. Catharsis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe and Jack have a new start, of sorts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, it's been a long time. Been a hell of a few months, my bad. All I can say is that there's been a lot going on in my life, and I had to wait until I felt right writing this particular story again.
> 
> I hope you have all been enjoying yourselves and that you will also enjoy this new chapter! Only a small thing, but it somewhat heralds in this new arc in Gabe and Jack's story. 
> 
> This is a time of new beginnings for them, and me also. Maybe for you too! Thank you for reading and have a great day!

Gabriel awoke to the sound of breathing. Blinking the sleep from his eyes he stared around the room. It was a normal hotel room. What then? He shifted his head around, and what was that? He was sure he had just heard his pillow groan.

Oh right. That wasn’t a pillow. Or rather it was a human pillow. 

“Hey...” His pillow began to speak. “You awake?”

“Yeah… I think.”

Jack chuckled. “Facetious as always, I see. You mind moving? I kinda need to piss.”

Gabe whined, but obliged him, shifting his head from Jack’s lap.

“Thanks.”

Jack sat up, and wandered haphazardly to the bathroom. Gabriel just lay there and watched. It was a view worth savoring, and for once he did not have to worry about being called out for it. They had spent the night together, so Gabe felt fully entitled to do some tasteful admiring. 

The bathroom door shut behind him, which was a disappointment. There went his entertainment. 

Not to waste any of his precious time, Gabe leaned over, off the bed and rummaged around in his rucksack for the antiquated Nokia that Nina had given him before they left. Having a criminal for a sister, it seemed, really did pay. 

Turning it on he went immediately to the menu for contacts. One listed number shone from the tinny screen, reading Big Rico’s Pizza and Chicken Shop. Yet it was a mobile number. Gabe grinned and sent a text through. 

It read: [Morning sweet princess.]

The phone buzzed almost immediately.

[Its 6 in the afternoon here u dolt]

Gabe grinned and texted back.

[after your bedtime isnt it?]

[haha real funny u shit. How did flight go? u and j safe?]

[all fine. Having a lie in actually.]

[gr8. hows lover boy?]

[in good spirits. He should be, he got laid]

There was a slight pause before the next text.

[with u?]

Gabe rolled his eyes. What, wasn’t it obvious enough already?

[who else ;)]

Has he just used an emoji? Was he getting ill or something? Shameful.

Then the response.

[em and marie just got back! gtg, congrats o n the sex comrade]

Gabe smiled to himself and put the phone down.

As if by magic, Jack chose that very moment to reappear, standing squarely in the bathroom door.

“Gabriel.” He said, and did Gabe detect nerves in that voice? Even if he didn’t, full names were a bad sign. But Gabe wasn’t going to prepare for the worst case scenario. He liked to think he had a little more faith than that.

“That’s my name.” Gabe acknowledged. 

“So, about last night.” He faltered.

“Yes?”

“I just wanted to check if you… uh… remember everything? I mean, we did drink quite a bit, so if you don’t, then I-”

“You wanna know if I remember sucking your dick, champ?” Gabe’s lips curled into a triumphant grin. 

Jack’s face flushed, but to his credit, he retained his composure. “Why’d you have to say that and then call me ‘champ’? That sentence was going so well.”

“Because I knew I’d make you blush if I did.” Gabe bit his lip. “And you just look so sweet all red and embarrassed like that.”

Jack groaned. “You’re incorrigible, Gabe.”

“Please.” Gabe smirked. “You can’t get enough of me.” 

“I do. But you’re still incurably wicked.” Jack strode over to the bed, collapsing down upon it and squirming over to where Gabe lay. 

“You stole the warm bit!” He challenged. “Traitor.”

“And the worst bit? I don’t even regret it.” Gabe kissed him, quickly and sweetly. “Look, now we’re going to have to cuddle up together to keep warm.” 

“Or I could get up and put some clothes on.” Jack suggested slyly. “Because I’m sure that would warm me up too.”

Gabe wrapped his arms around Jack’s neck. 

“Don’t you dare.” He warned. “I need you right here.”

“Hmmm.” Jack pretended to waver. “I dunno sweetheart, those clothes look pretty inviting to me.”

“You have me in the palm of your hand Jack, and you’d neglect me for clothes? I’m distressed.”

Jack frowned. 

“Well, I can’t have that. I suppose clothes will have to wait.”

\-- - --

When the both of them finally tumbled out of bed the sun was already high in the sky. Reluctantly, Gabe let his sweetheart finally put some clothes on. 

“What do you mean, you only have shorts?” He demanded crossly as Jack rifled through his dented suitcase, clothes strewn everywhere.

“I live in the fucking desert Gabe! What do you expect me to have in my wardrobe, seven parkas?”

Gabe pouted. “You get up on the wrong side of bed eh, jackass? Fine, you can borrow some of my jeans.”

He picked up a clean pair of jeans from the top of his own suitcase (which was neatly packed, unlike Jack’s) and chucked it at him. 

Jack unthreaded the belt from his old, discarded pair of jeans and wove them into his new pair, trying them on for size. 

“All your jeans have a real weird fit, Gabe.” He complained. 

“Yeah, that’s because every pair of trousers I own has to go through trial by thighs.”

“Trial by what now?” 

“My thighs. Every time I buy a new pair of trousers I gotta go through this whole process of breaking them in so that they’ll fit around my legs. It’s damn inconvenient.”

“Why not just buy the size up?”

Gabe scoffed loudly. “Are you kidding me, Jack? Wear loose trousers? Trousers that aren’t- aren’t form fitting? What kind of a pitiful fool do you think I am? Jack! Tight jeans are essential to my look, these bad boys need to fit like a goddamn second skin! Jack- Jack! I have great thighs and you’re sure as hell I’m gonna show them off! They’re my best feature!”

Jack leaned into him, curling around the arch of Babe’s back, kissing the back of his neck.

“Every feature is your best feature, babe.” 

Gabe laughed. “You shameless flirt. Flattery will get you everywhere.”

“Good to know.” Jack murmured into the collar of Gabe’s shirt. His hand ran down Gabe’s side, clenching itself around Gabe’s left thigh with a tentative squeeze. “But I’m serious, you know. Every part of you that I’ve touched feels fantastic. I’m certain that if I ever saw you, I’d think you were the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on.”

Gabe hummed contentedly.

“That said,” Jack added, “those thighs? Incredible.”

“Shouldn’t you be packing?” He teased. “We need to be out of here in fifteen minutes, you know.”

“Why the rush?” Jack groaned. “Surely a few more minutes can’t hurt.”

“You’re the one who has to apologise to my sister if she has to pay for another night in this hotel because we couldn’t keep our hands off each other for long enough to check out at the proper time.”

“Come on, it can’t be that late.”

“Jackie, it’s quarter to twelve.” 

“Shit.” Jack breathed. “Okay, I’ll get back to packing.”

To his word, he did, though Gabe couldn’t deny that the temptation to just go to hell with it all and spend the day in bed was very strong. 

As he finished up, Gabe did a quick once-over of the hotel room to make sure they hadn’t left anything in the now thoroughly untidy bedroom.

They made check-out three minutes before twelve, much to the chagrin of the man on desk, who seemed even more personally offended by their presence than before. 

“We received several noise complaints about your room last night.” He scowled.

Gabe stared him, down, hoping that the fact that Jack was hanging off him like a baby koala did not detract from his menacing aura.

“How lucky for you that we’re leaving then, isn’t it?” He said, face not betraying even a flicker of emotion. 

He tossed his keys onto the desk and turned to leave. 

“Sweetheart, do you mind getting off me for a second? I can’t walk like this.” 

Jack didn’t move.

“John! Please, shift.”

Jack shuddered, and detached himself.

“Sorry hun. Got a little too comfortable.”

Gabe kissed him then, right in the middle of the lobby in front of their horrified cashier.

He gave the disgusted clerk a wink and strode out of the front door, Jack in tow.

 

\-- - --

 

A hot panini and two train tickets later, and the two of them were sat together in the slightly threadbare interior of a train, painted in the questionable colour scheme of purple and yellow. 

“Be glad you’re blind, Jackie.” He joked as they whizzed past scenes of open countryside, “Because the exterior on this thing is hideous.”

Jack nudged his leg. “Shouldn’t that be John in public?”

“Come on, there’s like nobody on this train. And it’s not like you’ve been calling me Rafael.”

“Well, I don’t like acting like it’s anyone but you who I have feelings for. I don’t know this Rafael guy. I like you, and only you.” 

Gabe yawned, and surreptitiously wrapped his arm around Jack’s shoulder.

“Then can’t I say the same? I want my Jackie.” He reasoned. 

“Yeah, but my name is actually John, soo…”

“What?”

Jack looked up, surprised. “What? I told you didn’t I?”

“You did not.” 

“Oops. Yeah, that’s me, Jonathan Alistair Morrison. But I started going by Jack when I left home. Wanted to differentiate myself somehow. So obviously, I chose an equally boring name and went from there.” He joked.

“Jeez, I really can’t see you as a Jonathan. It doesn’t suit you at all.” 

“Suppose I grew out of it, which was for the better. Not sure my father would agreed though, if he knew. He was always very particular about the name. He had his reasons of course, but I didn’t understand them at the time. I just didn’t like the name.”

“Any particular reason?”

Jack chuckled. “Well, for starters it was a family name, so about a quarter of my entire family were John, Jonathan, Johnny or Nathan. Didn’t exactly make you feel unique.”

“I can understand that.” Gabe agreed. “Everyone wants to stand out a little bit.”

“Mhmm.” Jack nodded. “I did a lot of teen angsting over little things like that, felt like the whole town was just holding me back. I bet I’ve made my childhood sound really terrible to you, but it wasn’t actually so bad. People were nice enough to me, my parents loved me even if they weren’t the most perceptive or empathetic. Even coming out, you know, that was dreadful but they would’ve gotten over it. Truth is, I wanted a reason to leave, and I wanted for them to feel guilty for giving me shit about my sexuality.” 

“Yeah?” Gabe asked, squeezing Jack tighter.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this.” Jack admitted. “I don’t do this kind of stuff as a rule, I don’t want to regret things. I am where I am and that’s my responsibility and I just have to deal with those things. That’s my business alone. But there’s just something about you that actually makes me want to tell all those things, and hope that you sympathise.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, sweetheart.” He cooed. “Tell me everything you want to, and I swear I’ll listen. I’ll listen to everything that you want me to. We’re here for each other, Jackie. No exceptions, no excuses.”

A slow smile spread across Jack’s features, lighting them up one by one. 

“So… do you remember when we were talking, back in Willsdale? I mean, it was just one silly conversation but you said maybe, when you came back we could go travelling, and maybe, you know… visit them? I mean, not that we’re in the same circumstances now, but say one day we did manage to go back there, do you think we could… do you think I could visit them?”

“As soon as we’re back in the U.S, whenever that may be, I’ll take you there. And wherever else you wanna go as well, just you and me.”

Jack practically threw himself into Gabe’s arms. 

“I’d love that.” He stretched himself out on the long row of empty seats, resting his head in Gabriel’s lap. 

“Hey, you don’t think we’re moving too fast, do you?” 

Gabe shook his head. 

“Nah. I think we’re doing just fine.”

“You do?” Jack looked a little surprised. “Not even a bit?”

“If it works for us I don’t give a shit. Just go with it, right? Besides, things are bound to go fast. We’re gonna be seeing a whole lot of each other in future, y’know?”

Jack nodded earnestly. 

“Sorry. Nervous, you know. Long time- very long time since I’ve done this.”

Gabe shrugged.

“You’ll be fine. No point in holding back in case you do something wrong. Things go wrong no matter what, so just embrace it. We can all only do our best, you know.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “You know, you seem… different today, Gabe. Very chilled. It’s quite disturbing.”

“Funny.” Gabe snorted. “Actually, I do feel different. In a way, I think I’ve just stopped caring.”

“Given up have you? Reassuring.” Jack frowned as the train clattered through a tunnel.

“No, nothing like that. Maybe I just think it’s time that I stopped worrying about everyone and just got on with things. Everything’s just going to happen, after all. Whatever it ends up being.”

Jack smiled. “That’s a good outlook to have.”

“Mmmm.” Gabe hummed in agreement as Jack cuddled up to him on the scuzzy train seat. “Say, what does a guy have to do do to get a kiss around here?”

 

The answer, it turned out, was remarkably little.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I really hoped you enjoyed this! 
> 
>  
> 
> I'm on tumblr at mothdads-writing.tumblr.com and welcome any asks about 'The Truth' or my other fic 'Of Moth and Men'.
> 
> Have a lovely day!


End file.
